Harvester of Souls
by MattsUK
Summary: His powers greatly reduced by the lack of souls travelling between the boundaries of life and death, the harvester of souls, Death himself, is forced to resort to stealing what is left of the souls of the Grimm creatures. However, he manages to get caught up in some unwanted events and is forced to take steps he is unwilling to take.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

It felt frail and weak, nothing compared to the greatly powerful being it was once known as. The lack of souls travelling between the boundaries of life and death was… most disappointing. The lack of death in the world of Remnant meant that Death's powers were slowly draining from him. No souls meant no food for Death. The less food, the weaker you get, until the point where you are unable to continue, death for mortals, losing your job for Death.

The options were limited. They _were _limited, now there was only one option left. Cross the boundaries between life and death, return to your mortal form once more, and take any soul you can find. Of course, returning to Remnant and slaying everyone in sight until Death's hunger was satisfied would be out of the question, the Dullahan would have Death's head to add to his collection if he were to do something that so clearly broke the laws of life and death.

The only way Death would survive would be to sap what remained of the souls of the Grimm creatures. The humans and Faunus said that the Grimm were soulless. Oh how wrong they were. Although Grimm appear to be soulless, seeing as they have no aura, it is quite the contrary. Grimm souls were so little in proportion that they had been overlooked by scientists. Nevertheless, Grimm still had souls, albeit only 3% that of a human soul.

And how would Death sap the souls of Grimm without being questioned by the police for running out into the forest and slaughtering hundreds of Grimm? By joining Beacon Academy. Death's current power was just slightly below the skill level of Remnant's most professional and skilled Huntsmen and Huntresses that still existed in the living world, meaning Death would have to limit his skill to the level of the students he would be fighting alongside.

Its abilities it had acquired as Death still remained with it as a mortal, meaning it could still sap the souls of the living around him and produce its weapons and armor on command, as well as having above average human reflexes, speed and strength.

Although, in its mortal form, Death was not superhuman or inhuman, it was still extraordinarily powerful. If the students and staff at the academy were bright enough, they may notice the significant amounts of death and greed its aura gave off, meaning that its fellow students may find out that it was, indeed, Death itself. This would be highly unlikely since Death is just a mere story to scare the kids if they did anything bad. Either way, it was time to redesign Death's mortal form.

For its mortal form, Death had chosen to create a human male with short black hair and golden eyes, 17 years of age in order to get into Beacon. He stood at 6 foot 4 inches with a fairly muscular build and a respective body shape, nothing too over the top like a wrestler would be. His complexion was pale white; as if he were a cold-blooded human (Death couldn't change that due to the lack of souls he had encountered).

For casual clothing he wore a pitch black hoodie with a white stripe running up the center of the back and onto the hood, the hood usually remained over his head, and a pair of solid black tracksuit bottoms accompanied by a pair of black and white trainers. The boy wore a black face mask that covered the bottom half of his face and had the bottom half of a skull painted on it. The figure of the boy was complete with a pair of thin black leather gloves.

For combat attire Death decided to create the strongest and most lightweight armor possible, mimicking Death's own armor in its true form. The armor was a gleaming silver and glimmered in the light, covering the mortal's body from neck to toe, leaving the head exposed. The head was covered by a grey hood and his face was once again covered by the same half face mask. The shoulder pads each had two spikes protruding from them, each one curving upwards. The fingertips on the gauntlets were sharp and acted as claws. Down his back was a black cape attached to the shoulders and fell the back of his knees.

As for weaponry, Death decided to use dual sickles as the mortal's main weaponry instead of its traditional double handed scythe, although Death could call on its scythe at any given moment. The smaller weapons would allow for more versatility on the field of battle whilst the scythe would grant him greater reach and power.

Having designed the weaponry and appearance of its new mortal form, Death was ready to descend to the world of Remnant.

Death had to admit, it had created a pretty good looking human.

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><p><strong>-Death's Game Plan-<strong>**  
><strong>**-7 Steps to keeping your soul-**

**1. Create a new mortal form**

**2. Descend to the world of Remnant in your new mortal form**

**3. Pass the admission test for Beacon Academy**

**4. Make friends**

**5. Take the souls of any friends that die**

**6. Attempt to live on the small amount of souls that the Grimm possess**

**7. Get someone else to take over your old job, probably a Dullahan**

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><p>Opinions? Please leave them in a review.<p> 


	2. Chapter 1 - Descendance

**Wow! This story has gotten a really positive reception, I'm so happy! I guess Halloween has its benefits after all! :)**

**Review Responses:**

**SirDerpsAlotThe7th: **Thanks for the feedback, I'll be sure to take that into mind when writing future chapters

**Mr Beaver Buttington: **Since Ozpin has cameras in the Emerald Forest; I decided that it would be logical that the military, council etc. would also have cameras placed outside the kingdoms to monitor the Grimm

**BruceNadeauJr: **Thanks for sharing your thoughts

**Sienim1es: **Thanks!

**IMPORTANT: ****SirDerpsAlotThe7th ****pointed out a problem with how the story is portrayed POV wise. Just so you all know, the story will now be told in third person. Death will be referred to as 'Death' or 'he'. Other nicknames will show up, such as 'The Reaper' or other nicknames for death.**

**I apologise if this gets confusing, I will try to make it as simple as possible**

**I have also dumped the name 'Mortas' and decided to just call him 'Death'**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

Death's arrival on Remnant was… interesting, to say the least. Almost as soon as Death arrived, he was assaulted by some group of thugs in an alley. If he remembered correctly, they were henchmen who worked for some guy called 'Junior'. A couple of their souls had passed through recently and had instantly made it onto Death's **'Most annoying Souls ever. Of all time'** list. The idiots lacked anything above common sense and some even lacked common sense. The souls wouldn't stop rambling about someone they called 'little red' who had apparently brought around their demise. Death couldn't complain though. They were souls that enhanced his strength and Death was thankful for that. Sadly, those were the last souls that passed by Death in the past week or so.

The fight started out as a simple misunderstanding, one of the henchmen shouting, "Get outta the way!" and attempting to push Death out of the way but instead he somehow managed to hit his head on a nearby dumpster. The henchman attempted to blame Death for the cause of his agony and then started swinging his red-bladed sword wildly in Death's direction.

Death easily dodged the man's attacks and knocked him unconscious with an elbow to the head. Two more of the henchmen also attempted to assault Death, but were met with the same reception from their foe. The remaining three henchmen ended up dragging their unconscious friends out of the alley, blurting out apologies as they struggled to drag their friends' limp bodies away from Death, hoping they would be spared.

It truly was a shame that he wasn't permitted to kill them.

Death sighed and waited for the henchmen to disappear from the alley before heading out onto the street himself. As Death stepped out onto the street he was met with the bright orange streetlights that illuminated the night time streets.

Death followed his predetermined course to Beacon Academy, catching an airship to reach the academy that lay atop the cliffs. When Death arrived, it was still dark. He sat on one of the many benches in the courtyard of Beacon Academy and decided to recap on his abilities and powers.

Each soul that passed by Death gave him Soul power. This Soul power was mostly used in Death's powers, although some of it went to keeping Death active. Each human or Faunus soul provided 100% Soul power. 20% of this would be dedicated to keeping Death active each week, leaving Death with 80% Soul power. Grimm souls provided a mere 3% Soul power, meaning Death would have to absorb a minimum of 7 Grimm souls each week.

The remaining Soul power went to increasing Death's strength or was used as fuel for his abilities. Death's abilities are as follows:

**Life Leech – 8% - 30% - **Leech the life of any living creature, healing any wounds. The greater the creature, the higher the cost and the greater the healing factor.

**Massacre – 20% - **Kill 5 living creatures in a radius of 10 metres

**Nightmare – 60% - **Put the target victim into a state of 'Nightmare', putting the victim into a state of Comatose and forcing the victim's worst fears into their mind. Similar to a nightmare.

In his current state, Death was too weak to perform any other abilities classed higher than nightmare. The lack of souls truly was an issue when it came to combat, especially when his adversary was… above average.

Death's current Soul power rested on 4%, just enough for the day to come.

Dawn came quickly and Death set off to complete the application test for Beacon.

The test was simple. All it contained was a few questions regarding the basic school subjects, such as history, Grimm anatomy etc. The second part of the test was a basic Grimm combat scenario. Death was presented with six Beowolves. All six Beowolves were killed in under three seconds in rapid succession, Death taking their souls afterward and raising his Soul power to 22%

Death was informed that he had passed the test with flying colours, as well as being one of the few new students who had no record of ever attending a combat school and passing the test.

With the test over, it was just under a week before the school year started and Death had accumulated just enough Soul power to survive the rest of the week. He would be able to obtain more Grimm souls when school started.

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><p><strong>Apologies for the short Chapter, next will be longer!<strong>

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**


	3. Chapter 2 - Beacon

**Review Responses:**

**Mr Beaver Buttington: **He is, indeed, F*CKING HUGE! HE'S DEATH, BABY!

**SirDerpsAlotThe7th: **Thanks pal. Don't worry about Pancake Mix, Ducks and Explosions, I'm sure they'll make an appearance, even the Ducks.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2:<strong>

Finally, it was here. After 6 long days of waiting, it was finally here. School had started and Death was growing weaker by the second. He needed more souls.

It was Monday morning, 10:38am and the airship to Beacon was, surprisingly, fairly empty. There was just over a couple handfuls of students in the airship, no more than fifteen in total. Most students were in groups of five or two. Death sat alone, his only company was a book, written by him.

Death sat on one of the many seats on one of two airships to Beacon Academy, reading a book entitled, **'Death for Dummies'** by Death, published by Death. If Death were to boast, he would be the best writer on Remnant (or not on Remnant, whatever).

Death flipped through pages 123/124, each of the 300 pages somehow related to death or dying. He pulled down his face mask slightly and took a sip from the water bottle he had 'acquired' earlier today before returning his mask to its original position on his face, covering it from his nose down.

A conversation nearby broke Death's concentration on his book. He groaned and looked up to see a blonde girl dressed in mainly yellow hugging a brunette dressed mostly in red.

Death decided to give them a colour code.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" exclaimed Yellow, squeezing the smaller girl even tighter, possibly breaking a few bones

"Please stop," gasped Red, trying to break free of her sister's death hug

"But I'm so proud of you!" said Yellow, releasing red from her hug, "Sis?"

However, Red was frozen as she stared behind her older sister

"Sis?" Yellow tried to break her younger sister out of the trance she was in, but to no avail. She finally decided to turn around to see what her sister was gawking at. What she saw had the same effect on her as it did her sister.

Sitting behind them, staring menacingly at the two siblings, was an ungodly large boy, sitting with a book open in his gloved hands. A hood covered his head and a mask covered the lower half of his face, his golden eyes piercing the darkness of his hood.

"Is there a problem?" Death spoke in a gruff, cold voice, his question directed to the two paralyzed sisters. His words seemed to break them out whatever trance they were in.

"O-oh, uh… y-yes?" Yellow stuttered as she shook herself from her trance whilst Red stood shivering

"What are your names?" Death asked the girls

"O-oh, uhm… what? Uh, I dunno?" Yellow questioned her own words as she tried to reply to the golden-eyed boy.

"You don't know your names?" Death questioned, slightly confused

"N-no! I mean, Y-no, uh… Yes? Oh, I meant-" Yellow continued to stutter before Death cut her off

"Calm down, deep breaths." He said. Yellow inhaled and exhaled three times over before attempting to speak again

"Okay! My name's Yang and this is my sister Ruby!" Yang said, returning to the bubbly attitude she had before noticing Death's presence behind her

"Much better. I am Death" Death introduced himself

"Death? That's a funny name." Yang snickered at his odd name

"It is my title, not really my name." Death explained

"Then what is your name?" Yang inquired

"Not sure." Said Death, redirecting his gaze to Ruby, "Is your sister ok?"

Yang looked over to Ruby, who was still shivering slightly and had resorted to wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to hug herself.

"Oh, she's fine! I think… Hey sis?"

No response

"Sis?"

No response

"Huh, strange. She's never done this before." Yang said, slightly worried

"Don't worry, my presence tends to have this effect on some of the… younger generation." Death explained, realising that Ruby seemed to be slightly younger than some of the other students in the airship. Before Death could converse with Yang some more, a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch appeared and blurted something about being 'among a privileged few' that Death wasn't really focusing on. Instead, Death had his focus directed towards a blonde boy who was staggering about, puking his guts up.

Glynda's sudden holographic appearance seemed to snap Ruby out of her trance and she dashed over to the large window that looked out over the town below

"Oh wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here!" Ruby gasped, "I guess home isn't too far after all!"

"Beacon is your home, now." Came Death's voice from the same position on the seats, making Ruby jump backwards and bump into another student behind her, essentially starting a domino line of falling students.

After a few more minutes of flying, the airship finally landed and the blonde boy who was throwing up on the ship, now officially dubbed 'Vomit Boy' by Yang, was the first off the ship, finding the nearest bin and emptying his stomach's contents into it.

Death followed Yang and Ruby out of the airship, the latter two gawking at the sight of Beacon Academy. Death had to admit, it was quite the sight for a school. Ruby had now transferred into 'Chibi' mode and was hovering about, pointing out every weapon she could see and reaching to touch them. She was pulled back by Yang and Death decided to explore a little.

Less than ten seconds after he had started walking away from Yang and Ruby, someone bumped into his side. He heard a loud 'thud' of someone hitting the ground beside him. He turned to see who had bumped into him.

"My apologi-" Death stopped mid-sentence when he realized who had bumped into him.

None other than Blake Belladonna.

Death had heard the souls talk about her… They called her a monster, demon, other things…

She was part of the White Fang, a group of murderers and thieves. Her partner was Adam Taurus. Wherever she was, Adam would be around.

Sure, he was Death, but he still had no respect for murderers and criminals, people who killed without purpose or any good purpose. At first, when the White Fang was taken over by a more… extreme leader, Death didn't really have a problem with them. A year passed and the White Fang had thousands of deaths on their hands. That was when Death developed his hate for that particular faction.

Nevertheless, Death decided to make himself present in the young girl's mind.

"Sorry, Belladonna." He apologized rather harshly and a look of confusion, then worry appeared in her eyes before he continued on his path, scanning the area for her partner in crime.

After feeling confident that Adam wasn't around and hearing an explosion that came from around where Ruby and Yang were when they got off the ship, he decided to head to the main hall where they were meant to gather.

When he arrived in the main hall, around half of the hall had been taken up by students. He was called over by Yang.

"Where's your sister?" Death asked when he was within earshot

"Oh, I uh… left her to, uh… make some friends! Yeah, that's it!"

"You abandoned her?"

"_Abandoned _is a little harsh, more like helped her conquer her anti-sociality and over-obsession with weapons!"

"She has an over-obsession with weapons?"

"Yeah… she prefers weapons over people."

"I shall keep my weapon concealed then…"

After a moment of awkward silence, Yang spoke up

"So… what do you think of the teams?"

"The team system is good. As for how they are formed, I suppose that they will be picked during initiation. How Ozpin will do this, I don't know."

"Okay… any thoughts on who you want on your team?"

"Not yet. I hear there is an odd amount of students, so there is the chance I will be alone."

"Wouldn't that put you at a disadvantage though?"

"I haven't seen any of the other students fight yet, so I cannot say if I would be at a disadvantage if I do happen to be the unlucky one."

"Wow!" Yang nudged his side, winking, "You sure are confident, aren't ya, D?"

"You're shortening my name already?"

"Well, calling you 'Death' feels kinda weird"

"You're weird."

Yang pouted, Death sighed.

"There's your sister." Death pointed over to Ruby, who had just entered the room, in an attempt to get Yang to stop pouting. Yang ceased her pouting and called Ruby over, waving to her at the same time.

Ruby said something to Vomit Boy, who she had entered the room with, and ran over to join Yang and Death.

"How's your first day going, little sister?" she asked, smiling

"You mean since you ditched me and I _exploded?_" she retorted before Death quickly butted into the conversation

"Did anyone die?" he quickly questioned

"Uh, what?" Ruby asked, confused

"_Did anyone die?_" he repeated his question, speaking slower this time

"Oh, don't worry, everyone's fine!" Ruby beamed, Death groaned

"You okay?" Yang asked Death

"Fine." He grumbled in response

"Anyway… are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked, redirecting her attention to Ruby

"I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she yelled at me again, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!" Ruby scoffed as another voice entered the conversation

"You!" screamed a voice from behind them, resulting in Ruby jumping into Yang's arms and Death falling over, hitting his head on the floor

"Argh!" he yelled from the floor.

The three turned to see a girl with white hair dressed in a predominantly white skirt

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" the girl yelled again

"Oh my God, you really exploded..." Yang said, disbelievingly

Death seemed to zone out for a moment, trying to pinpoint this girl's name. That was when she held up a Schnee Dust pamphlet.

Weiss Schnee.

Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. A soul had decided that it didn't want to go to heaven or hell and instead stayed in its body. Death had to go and extract the soul himself. When he did, the soul screamed the name 'Weiss Schnee' over and over in either anger or sadness. Turns out the guy was one of the heiress' combat instructors who was later discovered to be a Faunus by Weiss' father which resulted in the poor guy being executed. This all happened around two years ago and was long forgotten by the public.

It's just how the Schnee family was.

Death was broken out of his thoughts by Yang punching him square in the nose.

"Agh! WHAT THE F-" he was cut off when Yang put her hand over his mouth (or mask) to stop him from swearing in front of Ruby. What came out last was a muffled swear. Yang could feel that his breath was cold, ice cold.

"Whoa! Calm down there, big guy." Yang said, trying to calm the large boy, "Ozpin just finished his speech, we're gathering in the ballroom tonight, then we have initiation tomorrow." She let her hand off Death's mouth so he could speak

"Thanks, I guess… I'll meet you in the ballroom later."

"See you there!" exclaimed Ruby as she and her sister bounded off

Death spent the remainder of the day exploring the school, taking mental notes about where the different rooms were located. Night came around soon enough and he found Yang and Ruby in their nightwear, Ruby writing what seemed to be a letter and throwing pillows at Yang. Death stood behind Yang for nearly a minute without being noticed by her.

"Evening." He said, causing Yang to jump from her lying position and onto Ruby, "Enjoying yourselves?"

"Ugh…" Yang groaned whilst Ruby had her attention focused elsewhere

"That girl…" Ruby started

"You know her?" asked Yang

Death's gaze went over to where Ruby was focused. Blake Belladonna sat in candlelight reading a book.

"Don't trust her. Going to sleep." Death quickly said, walking off to where he would be bedding down for the night. Death was beginning to feel physically weak.

He checked his Soul power.

4%

This wasn't good. Whilst he would survive long enough to start initiation, he would be handicapped. By the next day, his Soul power would drop to under 2%, leaving him even weaker than he currently was. Killing Grimm at such low Soul power would be a tough task.

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><p><strong>So… I'm portraying Death as a more friendly(ish) character since it fits better with the characters in RWBY and allows for more interaction. I'm trying to make Death social but not overly social. He's still gonna be badass<strong>

**P.S - I'm really sad that RWBY Volume 2 is over :( Now we have to wait a whole year! ARGH!**


	4. Chapter 3 - Dead Man's Initiate

**Review Responses:**

**Nitefallen: **Hit the nail on the head, my friend. Death's appearance in this story is pretty much identical to Malthael from Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls. More on Death's age next chapter (I think) :P

**IMPORTANT: ****I forgot to specify one more ability, so here it is**

**Blink – 1% - Teleport a short distance**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3:<strong>

Death's eyes shot open and he immediately checked his Soul power

1%, enough to last a few hours

'_Son of a bi-'_ his thoughts were immediately interrupted when a sharp pain coursed through his head. Death groaned as he threw his hands onto his head, sitting up from his sleeping position. Looking around, his vision blurred, he saw only a handful of students left in bed. He checked the time.

9:30am. Just thirty minutes before initiation started.

He decided to head to the locker rooms, just to get a better look at the different styles students preferred and to get a glance at their weapons in order to pick out the most suitable teammates.

He lumbered over to the Beacon locker rooms, visibly exhausted, and arrived in just under five minutes. Even walking was becoming an issue. He arrived in the locker room and instantly scouted out Yang, heading over to her and her sister, Ruby. As soon as he was within arm length, he placed a hand on Yang's shoulder in an attempt to support himself, startling her as he did.

"Oh, hey there!" she beamed, only receiving a groan from Death as he inhaled and exhaled heavily

"Bad morning?" another groan and more breathing

"Are you… okay?" asked Ruby

"Fine…" he replied painfully

"Are you sure?" worried Yang. Death nodded in response before moving to support himself on one of the nearby walls.

_**Meanwhile…**_

"So, Pyrrha," Weiss started in an unusually friendly tone, "have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!"

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." The red haired girl named Pyrrha, replied

"Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss suggested

"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha agreed

"Great!"

"And maybe him too…" Pyrrha added, looking off behind Weiss

"Who?" Weiss inquired, turning around to see who Pyrrha was looking at, "You mean the one in the hood?"

"Yes, him. He seems rather mysterious…"

"Well… I suppose it _is _a possibility. But don't you think he looks a little off?" Weiss added, taking note that the boy seemed to be slouched over and was clutching his left arm, resting his head against the wall.

"He wasn't like that yesterday…" Pyrrha acknowledged the fact that he was acting a lot differently than he was yesterday. He seemed to be tired, maybe hurt in some way, be it physically or mentally.

"He's probably just nervous," Weiss suggested, "Which means he wouldn't be a very valuable asset for our team." She finished, turning back to Pyrrha

_**Back to Death…**_

This was far from good. Death had expected today to be easy. His Soul power was draining way too fast.

In one night, when Death was completely inactive, his Soul power had drained by 3%. This was something completely new to Death. Perhaps it had something to do with his age… The last time he had actually slept was thousands of years ago, the last time he had been on Remnant in his mortal body. Whatever it was, Death couldn't pinpoint it. He would have to figure it out later.

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately" The voice of Glynda Goodwitch rung out through the entire school and Death sluggishly followed the large crowd of students out of the locker room and towards Beacon Cliff.

Death and the group of around twelve other students arrived at the cliff. Each student took their place on a metal platform, each one built into the ground.

Ozpin gave a short speech informing the students about the assignment of teams. He informed the students that the first person they made eye contact with after landing would be their partner for the next four years. One student, Ruby, didn't sound too happy about this.

Ozpin then continued to say that once they had partnered up, they were to make their way to the northern end of the forest. Ozpin also said that they would be monitored and graded on their performance. The students would find an abandoned temple containing relics. They were to choose one and return to the top of the cliffs.

To the other students, this sounded like a simple and easy task, to Death, however, it would be slightly harder.

Each student was launched into the air, one by one, Death being the first to fly. He attempted to spread himself out to slow his decent, but simply found himself unable to do so. After a few seconds, he was sent crashing through the thick forest canopy and into the dry dirt underneath. Thankfully, the canopy had slowed his fall, but that didn't mean it broke his fall. Death still landed considerably painfully, his left arm being the first contact the ground. Pain rifled through his body from the impact of the landing, but he found the will to fight through it and slowly get to his feet.

Death attempted to survey his surroundings, but his blurred vision didn't serve him very well. Soon enough, he heard the sound of muffled gunshots coming from a nearby. Death tried with all his might to summon his sickles, but found himself unable to. This was bad.

Death had no form of weapon and was close to collapsing in on himself. He couldn't fight any Grimm, which meant he had to head in the direction of the nearest fight and hope that there were some souls ripe for the taking, be them human or Grimm.

Death's body numbed and he found it increasingly hard to walk, eventually having to pick up a fallen branch to support himself on. After a couple short minutes, he came to the source of the gunfire, finding a few Ursa corpses strewn about.

As fast as his body would allow him, he rushed to the Grimm corpses, placing his hand on one of the dead corpses and absorbing what he could of the creature's soul. Death immediately felt feeling return to his body and a small fraction of his power along with it. Death summoned his right-handed sickle, Famine. Small wispy grey lines, that looked eerily similar to spider webs, formed the curved blade of the sickle as Death took the handle in his right hand.

He sliced the Ursa's body open and rooted his hand about inside to search for the Grimm's heart. After around a minute of searching, Death finally found the heart, a pile of vile black flesh, strangely similar to a human heart, and dug his fingers into it, tearing the organ open.

Inside lay a small, red wispy being **(Like an Ice Wraith from Skyrim, around the size of your finger and coloured red),** swirling about inside the blood. He reached in with his fingers, pulling the Grimm's soul from its place, holding it between his index finger and thumb. He examined the soul for a moment before dropping it into the palm of his hand. The soul quickly dissolved through his glove and into his skin, the glove remaining perfectly intact. He felt another surge of energy and now found the power to move at regular human speeds.

**4%**

He continued to repeat the same process with the remaining two Ursa corpses. Overall, the process took just under two minutes for all three Ursi combined.

**10%**

Death summoned his left-handed sickle, Conquest, along with his armor and headed northward with his newfound energy. Death was completely aware that either Ozpin or Goodwitch had observed him extracting the Ursi souls and would probably have a multitude of questions prepared for him. He would have to deal with that later. First of all, he had to make it past initiation.

Unlike human souls, Grimm souls had to be forced out of the creature's heart and directly absorbed into Death's body. Human souls would leave the body at their own accord or be forced out of the body by Death. Extraction of the soul from the heart was not required in humans for extraction of the soul could be performed outside of the body.

After around ten minutes of walking, Death emerged from the darkened treeline and beheld the sight of (what he assumed was) the forest temple. The temple of stone was old and incredibly dilapidated, falling apart just as Death looked at it. What once was a glorious temple that stretched miles into the distance was now replaced with an expansive forest that had taken over all but what remained of the temple's sacred burial chamber.

One of the most iconic monuments during Death's last visits was now reduced to one lonesome chamber that wasn't even covered by a roof anymore. Vines hung down from the large pillars and walls as well as clinging on to the several small 'podiums', as they would be called nowadays. What these 'podiums' were thousands of years prior was much different than a glorified stone block that would display whatever lay atop them.

A group of five stood in front of the temple's remains and two were currently walking over to join them whilst another seemed to be running from a Deathstalker. She wasn't running very long. Running soon turned into flying as the Deathstalker batted the red-haired girl it was chasing, sending her flying forward to land in front of the group of students. There were eight in total, including Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake. He didn't seem to recognise any of the others, but he assumed that they were all partnered up, leaving him without a partner and probably a team as well. Death banished Famine and Conquest, the twin sickles quickly dissolving into a white mist as he walked over to the group.

Before Death could speak, Ruby had already shot off like a bullet towards the oncoming Deathstalker, only to be batted away by its armoured claw. The rattling screech of a Nevermore could be heard. Death joined the group just as Yang left to help her sister. Ruby was on the verge of death as the Nevermore circled around, sending a barrage of feathers at Ruby and Yang.

"What a shameful loss of life…" Death spoke emotionlessly, earning horrified looks from the remaining six students around him. Ruby compressed her scythe into a more compact version and holstered it on the back of her hip.

"And weaponry…"

Ruby's cloak was impaled on a Nevermore feather and Yang was cut off by a riddle of feathers from the overgrown bird. The next few seconds were a blur as Weiss Schnee suddenly shot forward, trapping the Deathstalker in a wall of ice. Weiss and Ruby exchanged a few words before Weiss returned to the group and Yang gave Ruby a bone crushing hug before they too, returned to the group. The group of students took the liberty of introducing themselves to Death, although most of them looked at him like he was some kind of monster, most likely regarding his comment from earlier. He introduced himself simply as 'Death'

"Guys, that thing is circling back! What are we gonna do?" asked Jaune

"Your objective is right here." Death stated matter-of-factly as he picked up the black King piece and running off in the direction of the cliffs

"He's right. Our mission is to grab an artefact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things." Ruby said

"Run and live - that's an idea I can get behind!" agreed Jaune, nodding

The Deathstalker still struggled against its bonds, the ice starting to crack slightly.

"Time we left!" said Ren, the others agreeing.

By the time the group of eight arrived, Death had already scaled the cliff face and was eager to see what would transpire in the valley below. He figured that, because he would most likely be the lonely widow of the school without a partner or team, he wouldn't want to steal the spotlight. Besides, fighting was unnecessary at this specific point in time and he was fully confident that the group would be able to handle a Deathstalker and a Nevermore. He was right.

The group of eight (split into two groups of four to handle both the Deathstalker and Nevermore) handled the fight extremely well, despite being split. Both groups handled their selective enemy without taking a single hit. Ruby even managed to decapitate the Nevermore's head and ended up standing next to Death atop the cliff.

"Impressive." Death complimented Ruby on her performance

"Tha- Wait, why didn't you help us!?" she retorted after realising that Death had no part in the fight

"Did you need the help?"

"No, but-"

"Then I rest my case. I do not fight unless I am required to do so."

"We could've died!"

"If you were in danger of death, I would have intervened." Death spoke truthfully. They weren't ready to die yet, none of them were. It wasn't their time. It was very rare that Death interfered with fate.

"Now," Death continued, "If you'll excuse me, those Grimm have something I need." He concluded by jumping off the edge of the cliff, leaving a very confused (and slightly angry) Ruby on the cliff.

Several hours later, teams were formed based on the type of chess piece that each pair collected. The teams were each four members. Team RWBY (Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang) was the final team to be formed by Ozpin in the main hall. Ozpin kept teams RWBY and JNPR (Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren) on stage for a while longer.

"Finally," Ozpin started, "due to an odd number of first year students this year, we have one left over student without a team or partner, if he would please join me on stage."

Death joined Ozpin and the two teams on stage.

"Due to these special circumstances, we are introducing Beacon's first auxiliary huntsman. He will assist any teams that request help on missions, if he is available." A round of applause sounded from the crowd and both teams made to leave the stage and Death remained unmoved.

'_He never said my name…'_

"And…" Ozpin continued, stopping both teams, "He will also be acting as a conjoined leader for both teams RWBY and JNPR."

A chorus of gasps and ooo's sounded from the crowd while a simultaneous 'What!?' sounded from both teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Thought something stupid might happen…" Death mumbled to himself and turned to Ozpin, "I presume you want to talk to me?"

"In my office at your earliest convenience, if you would."

"I'll be waiting."

* * *

><p><strong>Don't worry; Death will have an arena battle with one of the students. This wasn't the best time to showcase Death's combat prowess and knowledge.<strong>

**P.S - This may be the last chapter for a few days, sorry :(**


	5. Chapter 4 - Questionable Origin

**Sorry for the wait, some preoccupations got in the way, mostly emotional confusion, but I'm alright now :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4:<strong>

"In the forest-"

"Cut to the chase, Ozpin." Death interrupted. Ozpin leaned forward, resting his mug on the table and placing his arms on the table top.

"What are you?"

"Are you sure you want to dig that deep, Ozpin." Death gave him a chance to reconsider, but Ozpin remained silent.

"Since I believe that you are a man with whom I can trust, I shall reveal to you and your associate a few secrets…" Death held his gloved palm out and a small red wisp-like being quickly wormed its way through the leather glove and rested on his hand. Ozpin seemed unmoved by this.

"This…" Death started, "Is the soul of a Grimm."

"Impossible," Glynda interrupted from a chair next to Death, "Grimm do not have souls."

"And who told you that?"

"It is common knowledge! Grimm do not have auras and have shown no signs of a soul!"

"Your scientists are intelligent, yet foolish. In their haste, they seemed to overlook this poor little thing." The Grimm soul started hovering, twisting and turning in circles just above Death's hand.

"Prove it."

"I can't."

"What do you mean, _you can't?_"

"I mean I have no way in proving that this is a Grimm soul, you either choose to believe me, or you don't."

"Then I choose not to!"

"So be it."

"Glynda…" Ozpin started from his chair

"Tell me, professor. Do you consider yourself a confident historian?" Death questioned the headmaster, deciding to change the topic of conversation

"I believe so."

"That temple, what do you know of it?"

"Not much."

"Do you know who it was built by?"

"Not at all."

"Built by an ancient tribe known as the Strange Folk, some of the greatest architects and minds of their time. That temple used to stretch for miles. Truly greater than anything the architects of today could design."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see what's so special about a simple temple." Goodwitch interrupted

"Much more than a temple…"

"What do you mean?" inquired Ozpin

"I won't say. I doubt the Strange Folk would want me revealing their secrets to a society that still hasn't advanced further than them technology wise, even if they are thousands of years dead."

"They were more advanced than we are today?"

"They still are. It is beyond me how an ancient civilisation has kept itself hidden for so long, let alone hidden its technology so well."

"Are there currently any alive today?"

"Maybe one or two."

"What else can you tell me of these 'Strange Folk'?"

Death looked around for anything else that would come under the 'Strange Folk' section.

"Do you have anything you would like to test me on?" Death questioned after he was unable to find anything relating to the Strange Folk in Ozpin's office. Ozpin reached under his desk and produced a large white crystal, around the size of a water bottle. Death quickly snatched the large crystal from Ozpin's hand, examining every inch of the gem.

"Where did you get this?" He demanded

"It was found by a student last year, at the temple." Ozpin answered

"They just found it? In the dirt?" Ozpin nodded in response

"I must keep this." Death stated as he banished the crystal to the void, ready for death to summon it at any given moment.

"What is it?" asked Glynda

"Soul Crystal. Made by Strange Folk." Death replied standing up and walking over to the door. After a brief silence, Ozpin spoke again.

"Who are you?" Ozpin inquired a final time

"Take an educated guess." Death curtly replied as he stepped out the door.

"Why is it empty?" Death mused, "Why?"

A quiet beeping sounded and Death pulled out his newly assigned scroll. A message from Ozpin lit up the screen.

_I have taken the liberty of changing your alias to 'D', so you will now be referred to as 'Mister D' by the teachers. I have assigned dorm 128b to you, use your scroll to unlock the door._

_-Ozpin_

'_Wow'_ Death thought, _'He did that already? And why is my alias 'D'? Just sounds stupid…'_

After several minutes of walking, Death finally found himself standing outside his assigned dorm. He waved his scroll over the door knob and a light 'click' was heard as the door lightly swung open.

The interior of the dorm was revealed to contain little more than a wardrobe, a table with a chair and a bed. There also appeared to be a bathroom and a large singular window on the far wall.

Death closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed, summoning the soul crystal to his hand once more. He observed the soul crystal before quietly calling a name,

"Amsterdam,"

The figure of a tall male slowly faded into view in front of Death. The man brandished a white cloak attached to his left shoulder that fell down to his knees, obscuring the left side of his body. On his right arm, he wore a black, scratched mechanical gauntlet that stretched up his entire arm, covering his entire arm from his fingers to his shoulder. The gauntlet was made to look as if it were his actual arm, the shape and width being identical to his other arm, just coloured black. He wore a plain white outfit that covered his torso and legs, up until his neck, leaving his arms bare. The man's hair was snow white in complexion and his eyes were the same emotionless white, resulting in a sinister look. His eyes had no iris, no pupil, just completely white. His hair hung halfway down his face, the right half brushed to the side whilst the left half hung lazily over his left eye.

"In the crystal, Amsterdam." Death commanded, sticking the soul crystal out in front of Amsterdam

"Come again?" Amsterdam replied, adopting a confused tone in his voice

"You're a spirit, I need you inside the crystal."

"Whatever for?"

"I need a way to enhance my collection rate. If I'm correct, you can pull souls into this crystal whilst you inhabit it."

"Of course," Amsterdam smiled before bursting into hundreds of small wispy grey lines, all of which were absorbed by the crystal.

Death stood outside the dorm room designated to team RWBY (conveniently just down the hall from his own) and slowly raised his hand to knock on the door.

'_Ugh. What I said in the forest is going to bite me in the ass…'_

He mashed his fist heavily against the door the door three times and waited. The door was answered by a slightly groggy looking Ruby who poked her head through the open crack in the doorway.

"Oh, hi… Yang wants to speak to you…" she whispered to him

"Does 'murder' have anything to do with this 'talk'?" he asked her

"Well… I tried to tell her that you didn't mean it… You didn't mean it, did you?"

"Let me talk to her."

"Trust me, you don't _want _to talk to Yang when she's angry…" Ruby tried to convince Death to leave, but to no avail

"Just let me in…" he sighed

"Please, just-"

"Who's at the door!?" came an agitated voice from inside the dorm

"Uh… it's nobody!" Ruby shouted back

"Is it him!?" came Yang's voice again

"What!? I don't know who you're talking about…" Ruby replied to Yang, her poor cover-up only making Yang's voice grow louder

"I swear… If it's him…!"

Ruby tried to shut the door, but was blocked by Death's foot

"Just let it happen." He casually replied

"But she'll kill y-" Ruby was cut off when Yang threw the door open, fists swinging, eyes blazing red. Despite his size, Death was able to easily dodge Yang's furious attacks by simply stepping back and leaning away from her fists.

"Just so I am sure we're on the same page," Death started, still dodging and weaving to avoid Yang's bare fists, "This is about what I said in initiation, no?"

"OF COURSE IT IS YOU SON OF A B-" Yang's screams of rage were cut off when Death elbowed her in the face after narrowly avoiding a fist aimed at his masked face, sending the blonde brawler staggering back.

"Let's _talk _about this, something I'm sure you have a good amount of experience with." Death reasoned with the fuming blonde before she resumed her assault once more. Death once more continued to dodge and block Yang's attacks, all whilst slowly leading her back into her team's dorm, redirecting a few of her attacks to hit the doorframe as they walked through the door. After a full minute of dodging and redirecting, the remainder of Team RWBY eventually decided to apprehend their blonde teammate before things grew out of hand.

"DID YOU REALLY MEAN IT!? HUH!? DID YOU!?" Yang bellowed as her teammates held her back. Death stood straight, dusting himself off as he spoke.

"Every word, Miss Xiao Long." This unexpected reaction from Death resulted in RWB of team RWBY letting their grip slip on the blonde brawler, unintentionally releasing her from her temporary confinement. Death sighed as he summoned Famine, hooking the inside edge of the blade around Yang's neck and forcing her to the floor, Famine planting itself in the wooden flooring, pinning the blonde to the ground. Death got in as close to Yang's face as he could, close enough to feel the heat radiating off her as he bore holes in her with the next words he spoke.

"If you cannot learn to accept death, then you may as well be dead yourself… I sure as hell did."

Death's ice cold breath brushed against Yang's heated face as she calmed herself. The Reaper yanked Famine from the floorboards, pointing the curved blade towards Blake Belladonna as he stood.

"That goes for you too." Death finished before banishing Famine and stepping over Yang as he strode out the door as if nothing ever happened.

* * *

><p><strong>Apologies for the short chapter :(, but a quick question before I go…<strong>

**Do you want to see a new antagonist/villain?**

**Leave your responses in a review or PM me**

**-Matt**


	6. Chapter 5 - Bastian Harland

**Review Responses:**

**Nitefallen: **Being Death, he has a foresight regarding when and where a mortal is about to die. At that specific point, Death did not sense that Ruby was about to die, thus meaning he didn't have to intervene. Besides, he doesn't currently have the power to twist fate to his own wishes.

**This Chapter is mainly to introduce a new villain, not really focusing on advancing Death's struggle, so sorry if it's a little short, I promise the next chapter will be longer :P**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5:<strong>

A lone man sat at a bar taking patient sips from his Martini, his back slouched and his left arm resting heavily on the counter, his drink locked in the firm grasp of his fingerless-gloved hand. His eyes were replaced by two constantly telescoping silver optics with crimson red lenses. The man's bald head seemed to reflect the blaring lights of the club and his rough face appeared accustomed to his current outfit. His body was covered by a cowboy style brown duster jacket that hung down to the backs of his knees and his feet were placed inside a good-fitting pair of black leather boots accompanied by a pair of suiting black trousers. The sleeves of the bald man's duster were rolled up his arm, stopping just below his elbows. A beastly, blocky rifle was slung over his right shoulder, several parts of it glowing a soft blue. On his left was a ridiculously long knife, around nine inches, in its sheathe attached to the shoulder of his duster.

The bartender approached the man from behind the counter, his eyes widening at the sight of the armed man sitting with a drink in hand staring blankly at the table, a pair of silver optics covering his eyes. The bartender continued to wipe down various glasses as he questioned the man who sat before him.

"Listen bud, I don't know how you got past the guards with your weapons, but we don't allow commoners with weaponry into this club, so I suggest you either hand in your weapons, leave, or get thrown out. And I don't remember serving you either."

The response the bartender got was rather subtle, yet incredibly ballsy and threatening at the same time. The man at the counter raised his right arm up and rested it on the counter, revolver in hand and pointed directly at the bartender. His knuckles were a rough red and lightly scratched as if he had just come from a fist fight of some kind. The bartender was silenced immediately as he was held at gunpoint. The man took a sip from his Martini.

"The guards are unconscious. The man who had this Martini is also unconscious. But you will not be unconscious, you will be dead." The man calmly confided, keeping his gun trailed on the bartender without removing his gaze from the countertop in front of him.

"I don't know who you are or what your intentions are, but if you pull that trigger you've dug your own grave." The bartender warned, dropping the glass he was currently cleaning, frozen still.

"Call Junior."

The bartender slowly reached down, pulling a radio from his waist and speaking into it.

"Junior, get down to the bar." The bartender casually spoke into the device

"_Is it really that important?" _came Hei 'Junior' Xiong's crackled voice through the bartender's radio

"Just get down here." The bartender said before the conversation fell silent. Within a few long minutes, the bartender was joined by a black haired man with a black beard and moustache covering his face. Junior looked rather unhappy.

"What is it?" he groaned. The bartender pointed in the direction of the bald man who was now staring intently at Junior.

"Oh, it's you…" Junior groaned once more. The man holstered his revolver at his waist and took another sip of his Martini.

"A few weeks ago, a girl trashed your club, simultaneously putting most of your useless excuses of henchmen out of commission for the next few years. I need a name." The man stated as he stood up, towering almost an entire head above Junior.

"Oh, blondie…" Junior snarled at the blonde's nickname he had for her

"Name." The man stated once more, clearly getting impatient

"Yang Xiao Long. Had to do some digging to find that name." Junior said, looking rather impressed with himself

"Good. You live another day. And drop the tone before I drop your life." The man concluded, downing the last of his stolen Martini and striding out the club, escaping from the unbearable hell of blaring lights and loud annoying music that seemed to echo out across the entire street.

Bastian Harland stepped out into the cold night unaffected by the icy breeze that brushed over him, his optics making constant whirring sounds as they retracted and twisted. He reached for his scroll and scrolled down his contacts list finding the name 'Cinder Fall' near the top. He typed out a message.

_Cinder, gather as much information as you can on 'Yang Xiao Long'. I don't trust Junior to do this, so send me your findings as soon as you can_

Bastian sent the message and placed his scroll back on his waist before strolling off into the illuminated streets of Vale.

* * *

><p>Death decided that, seeing as he had just visited Team RWBY, he should visit Team JNPR. Besides, it was just across the hall.<p>

He rapped on the door with his fist and waited a moment. The door was answered by a groggy looking Jaune.

"May I come in?" Death asked. Jaune just opened the door further before returning to his position on his bed, simply falling into place.

Pyrrha was simply sitting on her bed staring out the window and Ren was nowhere to be seen. Nora, on the other hand, was full of energy, bouncing up and down on her bed, performing multiple mid-air summersaults and still keeping her balance near perfect.

"I just came to check up on the team." Death spoke up, pulling Pyrrha back to reality as she snapped her head to see who was speaking. Upon seeing the unmistakably large figure of Death she immediately plastered a scowl onto her usually positive face.

"Is this about what I said?" Death asked although he already knew the answer to his question. When he got no reply, he spoke up once more to explain his words. Jaune had now sat up and Nora had stopped bouncing and was now seated on the edge of her bed, turning uncharacteristically quiet.

"As much as you hate to admit it, my words spoke the truth. Ruby Rose was on the verge of death and there was nothing I could have possibly done to help her, nor could you." Death reasoned. Pyrrha, Jaune and Nora seemed to twitch nervously for a while, but kept their stern expressions, demanding answers.

"My reasoning may… differentiate slightly from what you may be used to hearing, but I'm sure Ren would understand, he seems like the type who would understand me. What is your opinion on this, Ren?" Death said, turning around to face Ren, who had silently entered the room behind Death. The stoic boy spoke.

"As much as I hate to say, he's right. None of us were in a position to help Ruby." Ren reasoned, much to the surprise of his teammates.

"If it helps, I apologise for my words." Death said in an effort to _not _be hated by _both _of his teams. Jaune looked between his three teammates before replying.

"Apology accepted." Jaune replied, he and his teammates deciding to suck up the harsh reality that was delivered through Death's words. Death smiled under his mask before turning to leave Team JNPR's dorm room, the team returning to their previous activities.

Death stepped into the hallway, Ren closing team JNPR's door behind him. He sighed as he was immediately met with team RWBY's closed door. Things weren't going as well as he had expected it to go. He had made enemies with team RWBY, save Ruby, and would most likely have mortal enemies when it came to the arena. This wasn't really a problem though, more of a distraction and more importantly, a waste of Soul power. Speaking of Soul power…

**7%**

'_Ah, problem'_

This was indeed a problem for Death. He was unaware when his next assignment would be or if he would get a chance to kill some Grimm in the next coming days. If he was lucky, fate would allow a mortal's death in the next few coming days. That was if he was lucky, and luck didn't seem to like the idea of Death getting desperate.

Luckily for Death, fortune would smile upon him tomorrow


	7. Chapter 6 - Pointless 'Classes'

**Chapter 6:**

Bastian Harland.

Whether it was his name or not, he had claimed it. Not having a name seemed to be an unforgivable crime in the criminal underworld, and apparently, so did not having a criminal record.

Bastian Harland was no goody-two-shoes when it came to life. Bastian was, whilst bearing no criminal record, one of the most ingenious minds that ever had the privilege of walking on this fine world.

Many names were thrown about this mysterious man. Murderer, killer, defector, bastard and a long time ago, Prelate.

Simply put, Bastian Harland was a criminal. Very few people knew his name, in fact, only one person knew his name. The only person he saw potential in. The only person he could trust with his life.

Cinder Fall.

And now that she was under his power, he could do practically anything. Most of this was sitting back whilst Cinder sent worthless henchmen and pointless meatshields people feared as 'The White Fang' to their deaths, or more commonly, the last battle they would ever take part in due to extensive physical (and , in rare cases, mental) damage. Death must've been having it hard, the lack of deaths and all.

But all of that was about to change. Tonight.

A trickle of blood dripped down his lip.

He tasted it, and it tasted good.

* * *

><p>Sleep felt almost… relaxing to Death, despite constantly treading on thin ice with all this 'souls' business and whatnot. When sleeping, Death would gather thoughts of the past, thoughts of a time he almost <em>enjoyed<em>. But that wasn't the point of sleep, not in Death's case anyway.

The Reaper rubbed his eyes as he sat up on his bed, pondering what to do for the next few minutes. Nourishment was not a problem, nor was cleanliness. Those things were not required, but only optional for Death, much like sleep. He did not need nourishment for souls would serve that purpose for him. He did not need to bathe for any dirt or grime would just cease to exist on his person, much like bacteria which would just die on contact with his skin.

Death just decided to get ready for class, slipping on his provided school uniform but keeping his hood and mask, organising the equipment and notebooks provided to him by the school and then heading out for his first class. His first class was Grimm studies.

If Death had studied Professor Peter Port well enough, the old man would likely set a Grimm loose In the classroom and then request that a student volunteer themselves to 'test their abilities' against said Grimm. Of course, this would be done after the casual story that the man blurted from his mouth. It was a shame that barely any students listened to these stories, most of them had quite a few hidden messages and lessons carefully weaved into them.

Anyway, if Death could get his hands on the Grimm corpse before it disappeared, that would sustain him for at least another day.

Death arrived in Port's classroom a full fifteen minutes before the lesson actually started. Port sat at his desk and paid Death no attention as Death wandered in and set his notebook and pen down on the desk as he sat down.

Death waited the full fifteen minutes for his classmates to file into the room, teams RWBY and JNPR arriving just a few seconds late, Port let them off the hook and told them to take their seats before beginning the 'lesson'. Ruby seated herself next to Death whilst Yang sat furthest away from him, Weiss next to Ruby and Blake next to her, closer to Yang. Team JNPR took their own row.

"Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" The class attitude seemed negative at the time, but Death remained focus unlike most students who would've already lost interest in the rambling old man.

"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." Port gave Yang a wink, returned with an uncomfortable groan from the blonde. At least she was in a better mood than yesterday. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..." As Port began his story, every single student in the room zoned out and focused their attention elsewhere, mostly on inappropriate doodles and pointless, yet impressive, displays of boredom, one of which consisted of Ruby balancing an apple on a book with her pencil held only by her finger while pulling a silly face, Weiss practically fuming at the childish feat.

Surprisingly, even Death had slightly zoned out, turning to complete other things all while partly listening to Port's tale of brilliance. Death closed his notebook after writing down a random string of numbers and letters and taking one topic related note that read:

'Grimm = Prey'

Death then redirected his full attention towards the teacher as he concluded his story, summing up the morale that he had snuck into it.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honourable!"

Death hoisted his feet onto the table in front of him.

"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"

Death started to pack up any essentials.

"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do sir!" Weiss shot her hand into the air as she volunteered herself for a demonstration, mostly out of anger and frustration, probably from Ruby's antics which Death had only caught a glimpse of.

"Ha!" A short, obnoxious laugh escaped Death's mouth as the heiress volunteered. His laugh earned a few short glares from a few students, but they subsided after Weiss returned in her combat attire, bearing her weapon.

The battle lasted a great deal longer than it should have but eventually ended, Weiss emerging the victor over the Grimm Borbatusk that Port had caged up in the corner of the room. After the battle, Weiss had stormed out of the room, leaving a sad looking Ruby in class. Death waited for the last student to leave before standing and extracting the Grimm's soul from its body. Surprisingly, Port raised no questions. Ozpin had probably run his mouth about an 'odd' student who may do some strange things in class.

**10%**

On his way to his next lesson, Death came across Ruby and Weiss arguing, the small girl having a look of shock and confusion on her face after the argument had ended.

"That didn't seem to go too well…" Death said, approaching Ruby from behind. Ruby's usually happy and joyful look was now replaced with doubt and she was on the verge of tears.

"Do you think he made a mistake too?" she questioned as she attempted to hold back her tears

"So far… no. I saw you during initiation. You led your future team to victory. Besides, it's only been one day and so far I don't believe that Ozpin has made a mistake regarding your appointment to leader. Do you?" Death said, leaning in slightly as he uttered his question. Ruby smiled

"Please remember that being a team leader isn't just a simple title you carry into battle, it is a title you carry everywhere, every minute."

A thoughtful look crossed Ruby's face as her smile grew slightly wider.

"Trust me when I say this… You have a lot to live for… and a lot to live up to. Your team will be the most valuable people you will ever have in your life. Trust your team as you do yourself, even if they aren't what they appear to be, be it good or bad, it can always be changed." Death turned to walk away but stopped when Ruby spoke up

"How do you know?" She asked. Death turned back to Ruby, a look of curiosity now masking her face. Death took a moment to answer the young girl.

"I speak from experience… Maybe I will say more in the future…" Death turned to walk away once more and saw Weiss standing on a balcony through a doorway nearby, Professor Port just leaving her side. Death headed to his next class.

The next few classes of the day went by smoothly as Death approached his final class for the day.

The final class was taught by Goodwitch, Combat Training.

Apparently, in this lesson, students would be pitted against each other in a tournament style duel. The combatants would fight until their aura reached the red zones or their weapon left the arena.

Jaune and Cardin had just fought, Jaune having lost against Cardin without even touching the taller, more muscular boy. Cardin had uttered a large amount of degrading comments to his weaker opponent during that match.

The computers determined the next combatants, the names of all the present students flashing on the screen. The names slowed and eventually came to a stop on…

D

His alias looked even dumber on the large screen. A few students snickered at the odd name, but they would eventually learn to shut up. That would be a few days though.

The names rolled again and the process repeated.

Cardin Winchester

Goodwitch asked if Winchester wanted to participate in another fight so soon after his liast, which he promptly responded, "Bring it on."

Death and Cardin stood opposing each other in the arena, a surprising lack of verbal assault oozing from Cardin's mouth. All he said was, "You're gonna wish I never accepted." Which didn't prompt any response from the Reaper. He didn't bother summoning his armor.

Goodwitch counted down to the start of the match.

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

Cardin kicked the fight off, charging Death with his mace raised over his head for a blatantly obvious (and foolish) attack. Death summoned Famine and Conquest as Cardin neared, hooking the curved blade of Famine around his opponent's mace as Cardin brought his weapon down full force, Death simultaneously hooking Conquest underneath his armor. Cardin was stopped dead in his tracks for no more than a second before Death sent him flying back with a boot, stripping Cardin of his weapon and upper body armor. Cardin's chestplate swung back and forth on the tip of Conquest as Cardin's mace fell to the floor beside Death, a distinctive clattering sound echoing through the room. Cardin looked around, shocked and confused whilst the other students looked intrigued.

Death saw no point in continuing the match, so he banished Famine and Conquest and scooped Cardin's mace off the floor, throwing it off to his side. The mace clattered and clanged as it hit the floor and continued to roll out of the arena.

Goodwitch called the match.

"Mister Winchester's weapon has left the arena, resulting in a loss."

It would've been so much easier to pronounce Death the winner rather than Cardin the loser, but Goodwitch had seemed hesitant to speak his name, let alone use his worthless alias. Goodwitch gestured for Death to leave and he did so, leaving Cardin Winchester still shocked and confused on the arena floor. No doubt he would seek this 'D' person out and teach him a lesson.

But all that would be for another day. For now, sleep awaits.

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><p><strong>Tee hee. No full fight scene yet :)<strong>


	8. Chapter 7 - Duty Calls

**Armistice Day: UK**

At 11am on each Remembrance Sunday a two minute silence is observed at war memorials and other public spaces across the UK. The silence is meant as a tribute to those who lost their lives fighting for their country - but what is the significance of that date and time?

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the guns of Europe fell silent. After four years of bitter fighting, The Great War was finally over. The Armistice was signed at 5am in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiegne, France on November 11, 1918. Six hours later, at 11am, the war ended.

The first Remembrance Day was conducted in 1919 throughout Britain and the Commonwealth. Originally called Armistice Day, it commemorated the end of hostilities the previous year. It came to symbolise the end of the war and provide an opportunity to remember those who had died.

In a letter published in the London Evening News on 8 May 1919, an Australian journalist, Edward George Honey, had proposed a respectful silence to remember those who had given their lives in the First World War. This was brought to the attention of King George V and on 7 November 1919, the King issued a proclamation which called for a two minute silence:

"All locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead."

After the end of the Second World War in 1945 Armistice Day became Remembrance Day to include all those who had fallen in the two World Wars and other conflicts.

Since 1919, on the second Sunday of November, otherwise known as Remembrance Sunday, a two minute silence has been observed at 11am at war memorials, cenotaphs, religious services and shopping centres throughout the country.

The Royal Family, along with leading politicians and religious leaders gather at The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London for a service and all branches of the civilian and military services are represented in ceremonies throughout Britain and the Commonwealth.

**I hope we all participated in two minutes of silence to remember those who had risked their lives for their country during World War 1**

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><p><strong>Review Responses:<strong>

**ThatInternetGuy: **I will admit that the new OC is, so far, pointless story wise, but I didn't introduce him for no reason whatsoever, he will play a decent part as far as my plans go. Death's fighting style will indeed be based around attack predictions and counter attacks as well as some form of illusion. I am in no way trying to create a Darksiders style Death as I believe that would be somewhat (extremely) overpowered and unbalanced. This type of Death allows more combat possibilities.

**Rogue Pylon: **I will introduce Death's scythe soon :D

**Sorry if these seems a little rushed, I was quite short on time over the past few days.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7:<strong>

A slip of the tongue.

A God damned slip of the tongue.

Death cursed himself for being so careless with his words as he walked down one of Beacon Academy's many hallways in the dead of night.

It took him almost a full 24 hours to realise it, but he had noticed his error.

The previous day, when he was talking to Ruby, he told her, 'I speak from experience', he had practically told her that he was someone else entirely. Who the hell had a team before Beacon? Whether Ruby was smart enough to pick up on Death's mistake or not was still to be seen. Nevertheless, it nerved him thinking about the amount of questions this would sprout if Ruby were to question him.

Death walked into his dorm, slamming the door behind him. He sat on his bed, contemplating what to do next until something jolted through his mind.

The feeling was subtle yet made its presence clear. The feeling he got when someone had lost their life. His hopes instantly rose at the knowledge that he would extend his… life? Yeah, his life.

"Duty calls." Death said as his body dissipated, transporting himself to the source of death.

Death stood over the body of a teenage boy, no older than eighteen, lying in a dark alley in the middle of the night. Centred upon his head was a large gunshot wound, no doubt his cause of death. His hair was snow white and he wore a grey business suit and grey tie. His body was pale and his face looked pained. His mouth hung slightly open and his were a solid silver colour.

The pain on his face wasn't a physical pain, more an emotional pain. No normal man would be able to see this on the poor boy's face, though.

He could feel something different about this boy, though, so Death stood and waited for the boy's soul to emerge from his body, refraining himself from shovelling up the soul and throwing it to the Dullahan, and sure enough, the soul emerged a couple seconds later.

His soul took the same form as his human body and started off lying merged inside his body, slightly transparent, just like Amsterdam. Slowly, the boy stood up, feeling as if nothing had happened to him. The sound of the ringing gunshot still echoed in his ears.

He looked around and found a hooded figure staring intently at him, its golden eyes piercing the darkened veil of its hood.

"H-hello?" the boy spoke to the hooded figure who didn't give a response. "W-who are you?" the boy questioned

Death simply responded by gesturing with his hand for him to look around. The boy did so, but this time he saw a familiar form lying on the ground at his feet. His vision blurred slightly as he recognised the body to be his own. He looked at his own body, but it looked as if it wasn't even there, almost completely transparent.

"W-what's going o-on?" He asked, a hint of confusion and fear in his voice.

"You are dead." Death simply responded

"W-what!?" The boy started to panic and attempted to run away, only to be rebounded by an invisible force.

"What is your name?" Death asked. The boy didn't give a response but instead attempted running again, only to be thrown back once more.

"You cannot leave my presence." Death stated as the boy tried to calm himself, "I'll ask again, what is your name."

The boy took another moment to recompose his thoughts and then replied, "Ulius."

"Surname?"

"Ulius Schnee."

"Ah, a Schnee."

"What's going on?"

"As I said before, you are dead. You already have your proof."

"Then… who are you?"

"I am Death."

"Death? That thing is only some stupid story they told to children!"

"Well, they were wrong."

"Why are you here?"

"I am here to take you to the afterlife."

"The a-afterlife?"

"Heaven, Hell, whatever."

"W-where do I go?"

"Well, from the information I have, you have been a good boy, unlike most of your family, thus you will go to heaven."

"But… I- I still need to do something!"

"I'm afraid you can't do that thing anymore."

"B-but… Weiss…"

"Hm? Weiss Schnee, you say?"

"I… just wanted to see my little sister one last time…" Ulius frowned and dropped to one knee as his eyes began to water

"Well… these terms are… different… tell me, how is your imagination, Ulius?"

"W-what?"

"Just answer the question. How is your imagination?"

"I… I'm a weapons designer."

Death smiled beneath his mask, "Perfect…"

Ulius looked up at Death

"Well, Ulius, I have a proposal for you…" Death said, Ulius gained a hopeful look as he stood up.

"What is it?"

"I am currently in need of a modern weapons designer since I am not that well… acquainted, let's say, with today's weapon designs."

"What do I get?"

Death smiled once more, "A chance to see your little sister." Ulius gained more hope in his eyes

"R-really?"

"Depending on my current condition, I can return you to the physical realm for a short amount of time, making you visible to mortals and not just me and a select few who I shall not name."

"Y-you would do that?"

"In return for your eternal service to me, yes."

"I'll do it," Ulius said, gaining a new look of determination on his face. Death stuck his hand out to Ulius.

"Let us begin. Grab my hand and you shall meet someone you can converse with."

"You mean… there's others like this?"

"Just one for the time being. There may be more over the next few years."

Ulius interlocked his hand with Death's and he began to dissolve into Death's hand until his soul was no longer visible. Death smiled as he felt his power increase.

**109% (Yes, it goes above 100%(Capped at 300%))**

Now… he needed to get back. The quickest way was to use some of his Soul power to manifest himself back at Beacon. Hopefully it wasn't too far…

Within seconds he arrived back in his dorm room and seated himself on his bed once more, completely forgetting whatever he was punishing himself for before the death of Ulius Schnee.

**101%**

Death was relieved that he wasn't too far from Beacon.

"Ulius" he called out to Ulius

"_Hang on a second, Amsterdam is still trying to teach me how this works. Maybe later?"_

"That is fine, I just needed to check on you. Once you're confident with the basics I need you to start on a weapon for me."

"_Sure thing. What type?"_

"Broadsword, single handed. I'll leave any extras up to you."

"_Sure thing, I'll get on it. When will I get to see Weiss?"_

"When you have proved your worth. Besides, I'm not in a condition to summon you to the physical world just yet. Ask Amsterdam, he'll explain it all to you."

"_Alright, will I at least be able to see her?"_

"You will see her but physical interaction will not be possible for a while."

"_Thank you."_

"I am not doing this out of the kindness of my heart. Just keep in mind that I am not on the best terms with your sister."

"_Sure thing."_

Death sighed as he climbed into bed and dozed off for the day.

He was awoken by a continuous beeping emanating from his scroll. He pulled it open and examined the message he had been sent by Ozpin

_Please report to my office immediately_

Death took a glance at the time before getting up and heading to Ozpin's office

8:37am. On a Sunday, no less.

"There has been a recent spike in Grimm activity in the Emerald Forest and I want you to clear it out." Ozpin informed Death as soon as he entered the room.

"Why me?" asked Death, standing in the doorway

"I have yet to see you in combat."

You want to gather as much information on me as possible, I presume?"

"And is that a problem?"

"Not at all." Death scowled as he turned to leave but was stopped by Ozpin

"I also want you to take a member of team RWBY with you." He said

"Fine." Death growled. He would only be doing this for one reason. The souls. The power. And perhaps he could get on the good side of more than one member of team RWBY, if he even was on the good side of Ruby at all. It seemed safe to assume so.

"I will have a Bullhead waiting for you."

Several minutes later, Death was knocking on the door to team RWBY. His knocks were answered by a tired looking Ruby.

"Why so early…" she moaned

"Choose one person from your team and get them to meet me outside." Death commanded

"Wha…?" Ruby adopted a confused look over her groggy face

"For a mission." He said, slightly frustrated

"Why so early?" she asked

"Take that up with Ozpin." He said

"Who do you want to come with you?" she asked

"Anyone, just wake someone up."

Ruby saw this as a good chance to fix a couple relationships, starting with Yang and Death.

"Okay, just wait there a second." Ruby closed the door and Death waited by it. A few seconds later, a loud whistle could be heard coming from inside the room. Death sighed. Did she have to wake _all _of them up?

After an extra fifteen minutes of waiting, Yang was shoved out the door… followed by Weiss. Death sighed again.

"I SAID ONE!" he shouted to Ruby through the open crack in the door

"And one times one is two!" Ruby exclaimed, poking her head through the door

"What!? No! One times one is one!" Death could've sworn he had lost a couple brain cells then

"Pfft, whatever! I thought this would be a good bonding experience!"

Death sighed a third time, "Fine. Just don't blame me if I end up carrying these two back." He mumbled, turning to walk away.

"Come on you two." He gestured for Yang and Weiss to follow. The two just sighed and turned to follow Death. Neither of them were very talkative on the way to the Bullhead.

"What, you still hate me?" Death asked as he pulled out his scroll to inform him he would be taking an extra person on the mission. Weiss just answered him with a simple 'Hmph!', followed by her crossing her arms over her chest. Yang just scowled; at least she wasn't trying to kill him.

"Just try to listen for a minute," Death sighed, "This mission is a simple Grimm clear-out, alright?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hang on a second. Nobody told us we were going on a mission!" Yang complained, causing Death to stop and turn to face her.

"Ruby didn't tell you?" Death asked, confused

"She just pushed us out here with _you_" Weiss scowled

"Well, tough. Ozpin won't let me do this without someone else from _your_ team. You're already in this mess and you aren't getting out. Let's go." Death forcefully dragged the two girls onward, towards the Bullhead.

"Besides, Ruby had a point when she said this would serve as a good bonding experience."


	9. Chapter 8 - Bonding Experience

**This chapter was meant to be released yesterday but my internet decided to cut itself off last night :P**

Before we started this chapter, I'd like to say thank you for the amazing amount of support this story has accumulated so far! I have seen people write good quality stories with not even a quarter of the support I'm getting with this and other stories. I know that I write because people want to read what I spend time writing and I'm sure I wouldn't be writing if I wasn't supported by you guys.

**Review Responses:**

**Rogue Pylon:** I will mention Winter but I doubt she'll become a main character in this story.

**jhellou: **We'll see about that…

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><p><strong>Chapter 8:<strong>

Bastian Harland knelt by the shivering frame of the Valian police officer lying on the floor next to his now deceased partner.

"We're a big deal around here. I don't want to be bothered again. Go tell your friends what happened here, _verstehen Sie?_ Do you understand?"

The officer nodded frantically and scrambled to his feet, pelting away from Bastian as fast as he could.

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><p>"Ozpin never told me what types of Grimm we would face, so if there's anything you can't handle you either come to me or you get out. I don't want you dying, alright?" Yang and Weiss nodded, turning their heads to face away from him.<p>

"And he seemed really off, too," Death added, "Straight to the point, got rid of me real quick."

Death turned around to face one of the open sides of the Bullhead. The aircraft cruised silently over the thick sea of green that was the Emerald Forest, heading to the western end of the expansive gathering of greenery.

The journey was short and they came to land in a small clearing, each of them disembarking the Bullhead with their weapons drawn, relieved to find nothing to oppose them. They began trekking through the darkened forest, the sunlight blocked out by the thick canopy. Wind rustled the leaves of the trees as it weaved in and out between the thick tree trunks. They soon came to another clearing, this one being much larger than the one they had landed in.

For some inexplicable reason, the wind changed direction from east to west, doubling back on itself as if seeing something and turning tail, trying to get as far from it as possible. Death held out his hand to his side, gesturing for Weiss and Yang to stop. They did so.

The wind grew stronger, forcing itself into the back of Death's hood and throwing it down from his head to his shoulders, revealing a head of somewhat messy black hair. The wind wound itself into his hair, throwing it about in the rough breeze. Death remained dead still, paralyzed, his hand still held out to his side. The girls just stared at the back of his head, trying to take in what little details they could about his face, although they didn't exactly have the best view of his facial features just yet.

Death looked around, performing a full 360 degree turn, scanning the treeline, his golden eyes darting from one place to another. When he turned, Weiss and Yang could see his skin was a deadly pale and had a certain smooth look to it, etching a look of what seemed to be surprise on the girls' faces. The lower half of his face was covered by the skull mask, as always. The wind died down and Death flicked his hood back onto his head, shrouding the top half of his face in darkness once more, his golden eyes piercing the veil of blackness, easily distinguishable even at night.

He turned his body east, Weiss and Yang doing the same, following his peculiar behaviour. He stared down the treeline, trying to throw his gaze through the darkness created by the forest's thick canopy. He could feel them. Grimm. At least fifty of them. Their souls rushed through the forest, sensing their prey and each wanting to be the first to dig in.

"Prepare," Death simply warned, summoning Famine and Conquest, the twin sickles gleaming in the sunlight that beat down onto the clearing. Weiss and Yang followed suit, Weiss drawing Myrtenaster and Yang readying Ember Celica.

With little more warning, an army of Grimm rushed through the darkened treeline, bursting from all possible positions. Beowolves, Ursa, even a Death stalker and King Taijitu, they all rampaged through the barrier of trees, the Deathstalker creating a hole in the wall of greenery whilst the Taijitu wound in between the trees.

Death set his sights on the first Grimm of the group. The Beowolves lunged at him, claws bared. Death caught their lengthy arms with Famine and Conquest, shearing them from the Beowolves' bodies as he proceeded to then decapitate each one or leave death inducing gashes in their mid-sections.

"How comes the weapon?" Death casually spoke to himself as he dropped the Beowolves one by one, two by two, however many he needed take on.

_"Should be done by tomorrow, the design that is" _Ulius' voice echoed in his head

"Good."

After cutting through nearly twenty Beowolves, an Ursa charged Death, taking a vertical swipe at its soon-to-be dinner. Death leapt over the swipe, closing the distance between him and the Ursa. The Grimm snapped its jaws in an attempt to claim its food early, but only lost its jaw through the blade of Conquest. Famine's curved blade was impaled deep into the creature's head and the Ursa fell limp. Death shoved the body to the side and moved on to face his next opponent.

The Deathstalker came charging at him like a raging bull, claws snapping and deep hisses emanating from its bowels.

Now was a better time than any. Death banished Famine and Conquest and held his hand to the air, summoning Harvester.

The same wispy grey lines formed the vague outline of a scythe before shifting to form more intricate and fancy designs. The weapon stood as tall as Death himself, reaching an impressive length of 6 foot 4 inches (195cm). The snath (the long part) was relatively thick but grew thin in two areas, where the scythe was intended to be gripped. These thinner parts were protected by semi-circular protectors, to prevent loss of fingers when blocking. The bottom of the scythe was indicated by a sharp point that started after four short wings protruded from the end of the snath. The curved blade stretched a length of around 120cm and had jagged spikes that pointed towards the thicker end of the blade, towards the snath. Opposing the blade on the other end of the snath was a smaller, yet similar blade that only stretched around 40cm in length. The scythe was coloured a solid black and the blade ran a darker shade of silver, the center a light crimson in colour.

**(If you want to, feel free to let your imagination run wild and give the scythe your own design since I lack good weapon designs :P)**

**70% (30% to summon Harvester)**

Death brought Harvester into his hands and waited for the raging creature to near him. The Deathstalker closed the distance between it and Death impressively quickly, but in more than one way. Death brought Harvester up in a horizontal slicing motion and the blade passed through the Deathstalker's armoured claw like a knife through butter, halving the total size of the Grimm's claw, the other half expiring into nothingness as it was disconnected from its body. The Grimm squealed in agony, but determined, it drove its stinger forward. The glowing stinger impaled the ground, narrowly missing Death who had leapt out of the way. Death brought Harvester down onto the bottom half of the tail with impressive speed and disconnected half of the tail, it vanishing from reality as soon as it had been severed from the rest of its body.

The Grimm grew weak as Harvester slowly drained its soul from its body. Before long, the Grimm collapsed on itself, unable to summon any strength to continue fighting. Death brought Harvester down in one final killing blow. A scream of help echoed out behind him.

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><p>Meanwhile, the two members of team RWBY who had been forced to accompany Death were having a few troubles on their side of the battle. Whilst Death had attracted around half of the Grimm force to himself, the numbers were simply too much. Yang and Weiss had to deal with a pack of Beowolves, some Ursai and a King Taijitu.<p>

Weiss was currently lying motionless on the floor behind Yang, a series of deep gashes coating her body, no doubt a few broken bones too. Her snow white dressed was now stained with a crimson coat of blood, her blood. Yang stood with Ember Celica at the ready, a few cuts and bruises of her own, but nowhere near as bad as the beating Weiss had received before the power of the King Taijitu. She wanted to refrain from screaming the words for as long as she could, but she needed it now more than ever. Her friend was slowly dying behind her and she was battered to hell.

"HELP!" her scream echoed throughout the forest. Her call was answered immediately as the nearest two Ursai and three nearby Beowolves dropped dead around her **(Massacre)**, followed by the Taijitu's black head falling from its body and immediately dissolving into thin air, attracting the attention of most of the remaining Grimm. Seeing an opening, Yang picked Weiss up and carried her bridal style away from the battle and rested her against a tree.

She turned to see Death's progress against the Grimm and to go help if it was needed, but she saw that Death had already dispatched the remaining Grimm and was now running towards her and Weiss.

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><p>Death killed off the last few remaining Grimm, Harvester automatically harvesting the souls of the Grimm. He pulled out his scroll and requested a Bullhead to pick them up before running over to check on Yang and Weiss.<p>

**89% (From Grimm souls)**

He slid down and checked Weiss' wounds.

"Will she be okay?" came Yang's worried voice from beside him

"Are you strong?" Death asked, still checking over Weiss' larger wounds

"What?"

"Physically. Do you feel physically strong?"

"I guess?" Yang replied, slightly confused

"Good." Yang could feel her energy drain from her and her body numbed slightly. The air around her shimmered, and so did the air around Weiss **(Life Leech)**. The process continued for several more seconds until Yang dropped to her knees.

**81%**

The life transfer had sealed up Weiss' most major wound and stopped most of the bleeding, but she would need immediate medical attention and, no doubt, surgery. He gripped Yang by the arm and hoisted the blonde to her feet. She looked dazed for a moment but quickly regained her senses.

"Can you walk?"

Yang nodded and the Bullhead touched down in the clearing behind them. Death picked Weiss' unconscious form up in a bridal style carry and lifted her onto the Bullhead. It was quite surprising how light the Schnee heiress was. He hopped onto the Bullhead and pulled Yang in before the Bullhead took flight once more, returning to Beacon Academy.

Weiss Schnee was instantly transported to the infirmary where she was treated as best the school could manage whilst they awaited a medical transport from Vale Hospital.

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><p><strong>I still feel like a jerk for not implementing a full fight scene yet. I'll get around to it eventually.<strong>

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><p><strong>Recommended Story: <em>RWBY Kombat <em>**by weismax33_  
><em>Armageddon had come. The realms were destined to be destroyed. But, the Elder Gods had a plan. Themselves, including Raiden and 4 chosen kombatants, were transported to a new universe, the world of Remnant. Will they find anything, or anyone, related to the MK universe in this new land? Rated M for violence, gore(fatalities).

**(Please know that I recommend this story because I want to, it was never requested that I do so)**


	10. Chapter 9 - Strange Folk

**A bit shorter than usual, sorry**

**So, this chapter is a little different and is told mostly from Death's perspective.  
><strong>**Tell me which perspective you like most, Third-Person or Death's PO****V**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9:<strong>

A knock sounded out, filling the small room with a new sound to drown out the old sound which would only be described as silence. In the center of the room sat a small, rectangular table made of metal, lit by a single light bulb hanging precariously from the tall ceiling. On the table, a blocky rifle with blue LED's on the barrel and magazine sat.

"In." Bastian's voice rung out through the compressed room as he stared blankly at the rifle on the table in front of his chair.

The door swung open to reveal the slender figure of Cinder Fall. She spoke as she stepped into the dimly lit room.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Tell Roman that somebody will be taking over his place in the next dust robbery. It seems his last string of robberies weren't as smooth as I would have liked them to be."

"Of course."

"Now, we must discuss phase two. Sit." He motioned over to a chair in the corner of the room. A wicked smile danced across his lips.

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><p><strong>7855 years prior to current events<strong>

Things were getting extremely out of hand down on Remnant.

Death

Death everywhere

So much death

Too much death and only one hand to manage it all

Bodies lay strewn across the baron deserted landscape. Blood caked the earth below the inanimate corpses, weapons lay rusting in the light drizzle of rain. The souls of brave men rattled their cages, their bodies, some unable to escape, some unwanting, others simply wandering and looking upon the madness.

God's own two hands couldn't keep this up for much longer.

Too much to cope with

God needed a new pair of hands, one to manage the death, to guide the souls of the brave and valiant, the kind and caring, to heaven and the cruel and misguided to hell, to shovel them up and throw them onto a carriage, one way trip.

And he had those hands, he just wasn't aware of their existence yet.

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><p>The victors of the carnage, a faction known only to themselves as the Strange Folk, stood amongst the army of corpses, once men, no longer men.<p>

5 Strange Folk warriors emerged victorious out of the 300 that dove into battle that day. The army that stood against the small force was like an ocean washing against a beach.

Thousands against hundreds, like the Persians against the Spartans. This journey had a different outcome though.

Perhaps it was the fear factor of seeing warriors which could only be described as alien, perhaps it was the superior training or lack of training, perhaps it was the technological advantage, perhaps it was the secrecy of an entire underground civilisation.

'Strange Folk'… what a strange name

But it was fitting. They were strange folk indeed

But who were these five who emerged victorious amongst their fallen comrades?

They were heroes

Nothing more, nothing less, in the eyes of war

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><p>The Reaper stood amongst the souls of warriors, visible only to those who were deemed 'dead'. He earned suspicious glares from the dead as he walked amongst them, almost seeming to appear human himself. The spirits felt an irresistible attraction towards the scythe-wielding figure that weaved in and out between the men's souls, heading away from the remains of the great battle which had taken place mere minutes ago.<p>

The spirits followed the hooded figure like mindless zombies shambling after something to call food. They followed in the thousands. Death led the souls away from their bodies, away from their deceased human vessels, and further into the clearing ahead. Fog gathered in the clearing until it became thick enough to block the view from a man's head to his feet.

A distant gallop could be heard for near a minute, constantly growing louder before it drew to a close.

Death ushered the spirits forward and they obeyed.

One by one, they filed into the Dullahan's carriage, each seeming to disappear as they stepped through the door.

Death held his hand out to the Dullahan who sat perched on the front of his carriage, horse reins in hands.

The Dullahan gripped Death's hand firmly.

The Reaper felt the power of a thousand souls, a thousand deaths, pulse through his body. It felt like a pulse of electricity at first but soon felt as if the entire universe ran through his fingertips. He nodded to the Dullahan. The Dullahan set his horses forth into the mist, dragging the carriage of souls to their next destination.

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><p><strong>Death<strong>

They say war is death's best friend. Allow me to offer a different point of view on that. In my eyes, war is like the boss who stands over your shoulder and repeats one thing over and over, 'Get it done.' He always expects the impossible. So you strive, you push harder. You get it done. The boss, however, does not thank you, he just asks for more. And he persists for the next few years. The next decade.

Good times

Strong times

Painful times

Better than now

But maybe not

I am unsure

Time will tell…

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><p>In war, not everyone is a soldier.<p>

* * *

><p>I have been observing this 'Yang Xiao Long' girl. As much as I would try and deny it, this girl intrigues me. Her family, past, intrigues me greatly. Perhaps I will continue observing; maybe I would talk to her one day. Maybe.<p>

Maybe sooner than expected

But I expected it all too much

Certainly a very… positive girl, despite her somewhat… drastic past. Even more so when you speak with her. The first time I had physically spoken to someone in the past few thousand years, and that person was her. And she immediately ceased. It felt like speaking to a bad mimic, although I believe the amount of said people died down quite drastically since my last forced period on Remnant.

I suppose I would consider this a holiday. Though, I'm sure the mortals wouldn't consider a struggle for your life a 'holiday'.

Can I call it my life?

Sure, why not

It was certainly a holiday from the dreaded hell I considered war to be. Constant work, non-stop, no breaks.

Either way, I seem to fit in quite nicely amongst the hunters and huntresses, as I predicted. I am not all that bothered about Ozpin gaining more insight as to who or what I am; he seems like a man to keep a secret when it shouldn't be revealed. If word gets out that Death is roaming the streets, the one who uttered said rumours would likely be considered insane. It's a shame how little the mortals know of what happens behind the scenes.

It is similar as to how nobody seems to know who the Strange Folk are, though I suppose they were quite good at keeping themselves a secret. If my memory serves me correctly, there is only one Strange Folk descendant left alive on Remnant.

The Question: Who is this?

The Answer: I don't know

They seem to have kept themselves rather well hidden over the years.

Hiding

That brings me on to the corrupt of this world. The criminals. I frown upon society, I frown upon government. The criminal underworld seems to be largely out of control on Remnant, specifically Vale. And what do they do about this? Nothing.

Oh well. Not my problem.

At least a few hunters seem to be looking into it.

Four of them, that is.

At the moment, only one, but all four will be in on it, I guarantee it.

I could feel it in her soul, Blake Belladonna, completely centred around her burning hatred. Was it hatred? Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Anyway, she wouldn't be keeping her secret for much longer. It surprises me that nobody else knows her secret, even though it sits blatantly on her head. A shame. It will certainly be a shame when her team finds out, though. I'm sure they will understand.

Maybe they will be the heroes of this new era. It certainly has been a while since a true hero existed. I may finally be able to expand my arsenal of war heroes. Amsterdam is getting lonely, all by himself. At least I managed to gather him some company that benefits me more than it does him.

Might get another soon

I recently picked up Ulius Schnee, brother to Weiss and Winter Schnee. Died via gunshot wound, killed by… someone. I do not know who. Odd…

Switching subjects now.

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><p>Earth.<p>

An alternate dimension, a different planet, completely different people, different wars, different everything. But that's not what I want to talk about.

The funny thing is, an Earth band, the Gorrilaz, managed to knock up a track that told a story of two different towns, one with a surprising resemblance to the Strange Folk that I know.

'Happy Folk' and 'Strange Folk'

The Happy Folk were completely undisturbed, living in harmony. One day, Strange Folk arrived; they came in camouflage with technology far more advanced than that of the Happy Folk. The Strange Folk found riches and soon began to mine them, fuelling their greed, fuelling the chaos of their own world.

Now, I'm sure this song was meant to represent religious earthen tribes and industrial civilisations. But I find it funny how these 'Strange Folk' are so similar to the Strange Folk of Remnant.

**(Song) Gorillaz – Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head**

But enough about Earth, that place is ancient history. History to me, to God, to others like us. Not the mortals. They know nothing.

* * *

><p>Fate is calling to me, twisting the world around me. I can feel it. Fate is telling me to let it do what it does. I suppose that means something will happen soon, probably to a member of Team RWBY or JNPR. Fate is calling to me to tell me that it wishes to go undisturbed.<p>

I will follow the calls. I will no longer intertwine myself with fate.

I'm sure she'll understand why

It's not like I cared anyway

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><p><strong>A little bit on the Strange Folk this chapter<strong>

**Tell me which perspective you like most, Third-Person or Death's POV**

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><p><strong>Alright guys... gonna get some R&amp;R, I should return to the land of the living by next week. Have a good week folks!<strong>


	11. Interlude: The Messenger

**Here's something to read whilst you wait for the next chapter (A day or two from now)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: Interlude, The Messenger<strong>

I stalk the streets, day and night, performing my duties as the person I was born to be. In my pockets, I carry belongings of the dead, delivering them to any relatives who may be willing to receive. Nobody knows my face, my life, my scars, my pain, my emotions, my purpose. But I do.

My purpose is simple. My purpose is to be a messenger.

I deliver the calls of the dead, the weeping of the souls, I deliver pain to the living and I deliver the truth to the denying.

I travel Remnant to deliver the messages of those who have faded from the land of the living, the message that Death requests I deliver. I journey day and night, no sleep, no rest, to fulfil my purpose as the bearer of bad news.

My confrontations are short; I move on quickly to deliver the next batch of sadness, the next handful of belongings. I take the items from their bodies and move them on, towards a body still full of life. Most of that life doesn't last too long though, most can't live with the loneliness whether it be a son, daughter, wife, husband, mother or father. They always end up taking their own life.

I hope the next job will not be as… tragic. The Schnee girl should be stronger than the others. I hope.

My job is not pretty, nor is it quick.

But it is my purpose.

My purpose as The Messenger.


	12. Chapter 10 - Docks Incident

**I shall admit, this chapter is not as good as I wanted it to be, but its better than nothing.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10:<strong>

**Bastian**

Bastian Harland's boots produced a barely audible clunk as he stepped down the metal ramp, disembarking the Bullhead, rifle slung over his right shoulder. He shot a glance over to the White Fang members to his left who were lasing around near the bottom of the ramp.

"Move it you scoundrels!" his voice bellowed, echoing through the docks, "We have a schedule to fit and you aren't exactly doing too well!"

In the distance, Bastian heard a faint 'thud'. He froze.

"Stop!" he held out his hand to the White Fang workers and they did just that. He focused his ears and eyes on every inch of the docks around him, searching for anything out of the norm, an intruder or worse. After a few seconds, Bastian felt satisfied that they were safe to continue their operation.

"Continue!" he shouted, finally reaching the concrete floor and stepping off the metal ramp.

"You, you!" he pointed at two of the seemingly more organised White Fang grunts, "Over here!"

He unslung his rifle from his shoulder, the large weapon glowing a soft blue and humming a soft tune as energy crackled through it.

"In the Bullhead there is a large white crate. Bring it out. Slowly. Upright." he commanded the grunts. The two White Fang ran up the ramp, their boots uttering loud thumping noises when they came in contact with the metal.

Bastian walked ahead, away from the Bullhead, rifle at the ready, aimed ahead. More faint noises could be heard, footsteps, very soft footsteps. No regular man would have been able to hear those delicate feet, but Bastian could hear them all too clearly. He stood and waited. Shadows seemed to dance in and out between the various shipping containers.

"I can hear you…" he sung

He waited longer

Silence

But that silence was broken, the footsteps neared once more, approaching rapidly from behind. When the footsteps drew close enough, Bastian lashed out behind him with his rifle, the chunky gun barely missing a black-haired girl's head. She had jumped back to avoid the sudden offensive from the large man in front of her. Bastian swivelled around to get a good look at the sudden arrival.

His optics identified her as 'Blake Belladonna'.

A smile flashed across his face, illuminated by the moonlight.

"They have finally resorted to taking kids as young as yourself and training them to be hunters, eh?" he questioned rhetorically as he examined every single move the girl made, every single twitch. He examined her eyes, he examined her bow. He examined her weapon, her poor excuse for a weapon. Looked more like a twig.

She readied her weapon as he readied his.

"Kill the misguided…" he reminded himself

Blake mad the first move, dashing forward and leaping into the air in an attempt to attack him from above. Bastian rolled forward, avoiding the sword blade that would have sliced through his skull if he had stayed put. He rose up, aiming his rifle directly at Blake's torso as she regained her posture from the fancy flip she had just performed.

He pulled the trigger, blue energy crackling through the barrel of the gun as it was released in a long blue spear-like formation, flying towards Blake with incredible speed. Blake just managed to avoid the blue energy impacting her torso, but not without substituting another part of her body to the pain.

The blue spear of energy had just managed to skim the edge of her arm, some of the blue substance rubbing off onto her arm. She screamed in pain as the blue energy crackled, sparks of electricity shooting from the wound in her arm. The blue energy spread further up her arm, slowly dissolving through her skin as it attempted to engulf her arm. Pain coursed through her entire body as she desperately tried to rid herself of the blue energy.

The remainder of the spear continued to burn through a shipping container behind Blake, eventually igniting with the contents of the container, fire dust, resulting in a magnificent eruption of red that flew well into the air.

Bastian considered letting the faunas girl suffer some more before the blue substance eventually corroded a couple vital organs or she ceased due to the immense pain, but he decided against it and made the decision to end her miserable life now. Just in case.

"So much to learn… so much wasted life… so little history…" he spoke

He raised his rifle again, this time aimed at her head as she thrashed on the floor. He readied himself to pull the trigger but was interrupted when a banana peel flopped against his head. He groaned in annoyance as he looked up to see the figurine of a monkey faunas flying through the air above him, aiming to land directly on top of him.

Bastian slid to the left and swatted the smaller person out of the air. The monkey faunas landed with a loud thud on the concrete. He started to stand up as Bastian's optics identified the boy as 'Sun Wukong'.

Bastian sighed as he drew his revolver and aimed it dead center of Sun's head. Once again, he was interrupted, this time by a voice.

"Hey!"

He quickly located the source of the childish voice and decided to empty a round into Sun's chest before turning to face it.

Standing atop a rooftop some one hundred or so meters away was a girl in a red cloak with an incredibly oversized scythe planted into the rooftop beside her.

Bastian took a pop shot at the girl with his revolver, only managing to hit the edge of the concrete roof. The girl seemed to yelp as she jumped back from the impact of the bullet against the concrete roof. Bastian turned back to the matter at hand, failing to notice a second girl who appeared behind the girl in red.

A few more Bullheads were now hovering over the docks.

Bastian's rifle shifted, its mechanical parts folding past each other until a cylindrical slot appeared in the base of the gun. He slid his forearm into the slot and the parts shifted once more, enveloping his entire right arm in a smooth metal casing. The forearm was bulky and had what looked like a gun built into it, still glowing the same blue as the rifle had done.

The forearm shifted, a gleaming metallic blade unfolding from the end and running against the underside of his forearm, below his palm. The blue lights flickered, switching their colour to a demonic red as the new red energy coated the edge of the thick blade that was now attached to his forearm.

Blake was still making quite the racket even though the blue energy that had been slowly eating away at her arm had now mysteriously vanished. The pain didn't subside, it just got worse. On the bright side for her, no physical damage was being done to her body. Only psychological.

Sun had now gotten to his feet and was charging Bastian with some sort of folding staff. His attacks were quick but easily avoided by Bastian. With one great swing, Bastian brought his blade up diagonally, aiming to cut Sun in half. The monkey faunas raised his staff to block the attack but instead of being greeted with the 'clang' sound of metal on metal, his ears were only greeted with a faint 'swish' as Bastian's red coated blade cut effortlessly through the center of Sun's staff.

Sun persisted and kept retaliating, only for his staff to be cut down once more. Now in three separate parts, Sun gathered his staff, preparing for one final assault. Bastian met Sun's swing with a hand to the throat after swatting the attack away.

He licked his lips.

A pain coursed through his body.

He growled in pain as he dropped Sun to the floor, trampling over him before he got a chance to kiss the ground. Bastian raised his empty hand up to his right shoulder where the pain originated and gripped a long metallic object. He looked down to his shoulder.

Protruding from his right shoulder was a long, thin metal blade. It stuck out of his shoulder like someone had just poked a ridiculously oversized needle through him. He looked back to see the blade's handle and a rotating dust barrel sticking out the back of his shoulder. Something else caught his eye, a young girl with white hair and a white dress with blue highlights sat on the floor with a stupefied look on her face, probably wondering why this man was nearly unfazed when he had a sword thrust through his shoulder. Either that or why she was having so much trouble getting the blade back out of his shoulder.

Bastian reached back and gripped the cold metal in his hand, easily bending the weak material and snapping the blade in two. He dropped the bottom half to the ground and left the top half in his shoulder as he strode towards the girl in white who he had now identified as 'Weiss Schnee'. His blade extended out further, now an entire 30cm in front of his arm.

He groaned in annoyance when he was once again interrupted, this time by a sharp feeling in his side. He showed no signs of pain as his head darted around to look for his new attacker. He wasn't disappointed, he found her quickly, just quick enough to narrowly avoid a strike aimed at his face.

The blonde girl's gauntlet narrowly missed his head as he swerved to the side but he was caught in the stomach by a second gauntlet. The impact of the girl's attack went nearly unnoticed by Bastian as he brought his knee up into the blonde's stomach, creating some separation. His optics identified the girl as 'Yang Xiao Long'.

Yang reinitiated the combat, firing several shotgun shells towards her adversary. He rolled to avoid the first two and blocked the last with his metallic arm. She advanced quickly whilst he was distracted and launched four quick jabs to his midsection. None found their mark as he leapt back, brandishing his blade.

"Indiscriminate. All indiscriminate. Stupid." He muttered

'_A waste of time, this is all a waste of time. They must be done by now!'_ he thought to himself as green laser beams erupted in the sky, slicing through multiple Bullheads.

'_Definitely a waste of time.'_ Bastian sent his fist forward with tremendous force, Yang blocked. The impact was violent, shattering the bones in her forearms and sending her flying back and rolling across the floor.

Bastian dug his blade into the ground, cracking the concrete. The cracks slowly spread across the ground, forming a line between him and his now fallen adversaries. Upon heaving his red coated blade out of the ground, crimson lines streaked up from the cracks, creating a thick red wall between him and the kids.

"Separate. Misguided… stupid… children…" he muttered to himself

He ran off, heading away from the past commotion, back to his Bullhead.

_Meanwhile…_

Death stood in between the shipping containers, engulfed by shadows as he watched the conflict. The amount of luck these kids had…

How were they still alive?

Oh well, at least he knew that Blake wasn't a part of the White Fang anymore… That was bound to get her _some_ positive marks.

Bastian stood in front of the large white crate that had been lifted from the Bullhead to the concrete beneath his feet. He was going to have to move it back in again.

And to think he was actually going to be able to use it…

Death watched as team RWBY (and Sun) slowly got to their feet, Ruby joining them from her previous position on the rooftops. She had become so endorsed in watching Penny take down three airships that she had forgotten to aid her team.

Blake remained on the floor, now unconscious as a result of the immense pain that had been shooting through her body, courtesy of the strange blue substance which was now nowhere to be seen. It had even left a massive hole in a nearby shipping container.

Weiss and Sun were mourning over their weapons which were both in several more pieces than they should have been in.

Police sirens filled the air as several VPD (Vale Police Department) vehicles pulled into the docks.

Death looked up at the night sky before walking to join team RWBY and Sun in their conversation.

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><p><strong>Full fight scene? Nah<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Recommended Story: <em>Ancient Secrets<em> **by lazerbear7

There once was a time when dust didn't exist, and the moon was whole. This time is long past though, and no living thing can remember it. A lich who made acquisition of knowledge of all types has awakened from a long slumber and found himself in a new world. He hears of a school, called Beacon, and decides that attending might be a good way to get the knowledge he craves.

**(Please know that I recommend this story because I want to, it was never requested that I do so)**


	13. Death's Diary: Winter Schnee

**'Death's Diary' chapters are purely Death's perspective and how Death views things, what he wants and what he knows. They won't be full length chapters.**

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><p><strong>Death's Diary: Winter SchneeNew Weaponry**

Do I feel sympathy for those who die? Maybe. Maybe I once did. Even so, I do not feel sympathy for anyone now, dead or alive, fighting or dying. I suppose I used to feel sympathy, when all this was new to me. I am a seasoned veteran in the industry of death now. Nothing jolts my emotions.

I stared down at the poor helpless figure of Winter Schnee as she slept peacefully in her bed, a figure standing over her like a shadow, just… standing there. All I was able to see was a glint of silver before the sensation of death crept up before me. The figure looked past my non-existent figure before evacuating through the open window and cutting the cold breeze that flowed in from the opening. The shadow seemed to look right at me, right into my eyes, as if it knew I was there.

I simply stood over the body for a moment, staring. I waited.

It felt a shame, perhaps a coincidence, perhaps a plan, that two Schnee family members have been murdered in the short time period of under a week.

After a full minute, I reached down and cradled poor Winter Schnee's soul in my arms, nurturing her in death.

The weaker souls were often like this, smaller than the others, looking similar to Grimm souls.

If you were to look at Winter's body, you wouldn't be able to point out any abnormalities, let alone realise she was dead. It was a true shame.

This one would go to heaven.

I decided to make the trip myself.

I don't consider myself particularly welcome in heaven, even though God may let me pop in and out every now and then. Luxury and peace are not in my agenda. I was made for death and despair. I don't complain. I just do.

I walked the path, the path so strange and different to me. Definitely not what I am used to. The pathway to heaven was, as most would imagine it, similar to walking on clouds. I was told that the path was meant to bring enlightenment to beings. I did not feel any enlightenment. Maybe it was because I am not really a being. Maybe it was just age, seeing so many negative things.

The angels wouldn't let me in, they never do.

I ushered Winter's soul away and she flew off, through the gates of heaven. I think I may have smiled. I couldn't tell. The feeling was so odd. Such an old feeling, something completely unfamiliar to me.

I would meet with a friend next, a mortal. I'm not sure if I could call him a friend. Just a contact. Someone who asked a favour of Death.

"Winter Schnee has perished." I would say. He would just nod and gather his bags, preparing for the journey ahead of him. I do not know how he gathers the belongings of such highly placed individuals. I do not question his methods. I do not want his secrets.

He would run off to complete his errand. Who would he deliver the belongings to? Most likely Weiss, Winter's sister. But, he is The Messenger. He is rather unpredictable. But he still does a good deed for Remnant and its people.

Perhaps there may be hope in this world.

I'm sure this will pain Miss Schnee quite a lot.

I don't care.

Everyone ought to grow used to the feeling of hurt, of pain. If I did it, so can everybody else.

But, throwing death aside, I have had Ulius Schnee design me new weaponry based on the mecha-shifting technologies of Remnant's current age. He has currently completed the design of a rifle named 'Dead Man's Wail'.

The idea is that the rifle draws from my Soul power and transforms that energy into a super-speed bullet of sorts. An unfortunate, yet admirable, by-product of this 'ammunition' is the rather terrifying wail the gun lets out when fired hence the name 'Dead Man's Wail'. Gladly, the immensely loud sound is compensated by the ridiculous stopping power the bullets produce, even able to tear the limbs off of Grimm creatures.

Dead Man's Wail also seems to have good parrying ability, able to block and redirect attacks from most non-explosive weapons. Quite a useful trait for a rifle if you ask me.

Ulius seemed quite fond of the idea of harnessing my energy and using it to create ammunition for ranged weapons. I don't even have to reload. However, I am obviously very limited when it comes to Dead Man's Wail, especially if I don't gather enough Soul power. Each shot drains 1% of my Soul power so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. I may vary the strength of the bullets if I wish, it just takes some concentration.

Obviously, I must refrain from using this new weapon on the students of Beacon when I am called upon to participate in a sparring match.

I find my Soul power quite a fitting replacement for aura. A few thousand years ago, on my last visit to Remnant as a mortal, I learned to channel my Soul power into different parts of my body and project it as a shield, much like aura. I find my Soul power to be more efficient purely because of effectiveness in combat. But, it has its limits.

How much I miss the death that showered the surface of Earth…

Ulius is currently designing a sword. That is all he will reveal to me. Likes to play games. I still need to create a finalised version of Dead Man's Wail. The last one broke due to inappropriate material usage. I shall have to use my own brand of metals this time around, not some shoddy shady materials Ruby pointed me towards. Still surprised she didn't ask what I was using them for, she seemed to be quite fond of weapons from what I know of her.

Since the time I have been watching her and her sister, she always has been. Quite the interesting pair of girls, might I add. I'll be sure to keep my eye on them; they intrigue me a large amount.

Still though, I wonder how long it will take someone other than Ozpin to learn my secrets…

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><p><strong>Special chapter coming up next :P<strong>


	14. Chapter 11 - Arena: 4 vs 1

**Happy Thanksgiving to the United States and Canada  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11:<strong>

After passing Winter's soul to the Heavens, Death's Soul power sat comfortably at **183%**, better than the last time he had to make an emergency trip to Remnant.

During this time, a battle of sorts had gone down at the docks. Death had only arrived to catch a glimpse of familiar technology in criminal hands.

"What are you doing here!?" Weiss screeched as Death joined the conversation, Penny mysteriously disappearing from the group and Blake was nowhere to be seen.

"I thought you were hospitalised," replied Death, tilting his head, "Out so soon?"

"For your information, I was released yesterday." She folded her arms

"It's only been three days."

"Didn't w tell you we didn't want your help?" Yang interrupted

"I just arrived."

"But why are you here!?" Weiss raised her voice once more, unfolding her arms and letting them hang by her side.

"Why wouldn't I investigate the gunfire, explosions and screaming?"

"He does have a point…" Ruby whispered, "Just leave him alone."

Silence

"Is everyone ok?" Death broke the silence

Silence

"Blake isn't…" Ruby said, looking over to one of the ambulances that were parked about

"What happened?" Death asked

"We… don't really know." Yang said, showing concern for her partner

"She has been hospitalised?"

"Not yet…" Ruby sighed

"None of you are watching her?"

"Well, they haven't told us we could yet." Ruby replied

Death tilted his head before walking off towards one of the ambulances. Weiss glared daggers into his back, Yang just slumped onto one of the crates they were standing by and Ruby sighed. Why couldn't they just get along?

Death peered into the window of the ambulance to see Blake clutching a bandaged arm, tears welling up in her eyes, most likely from the pain. Sun was in there with her, comforting her. Death tilted his head once more before returning to Ruby, Weiss and Yang. Death gave a hacking cough before speaking.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Nothing involving _you_ that's for sure. Why can't you just leave us alone for once?" Weiss hissed

"Leave you alone? I haven't spoken to any of you for three days, Ozpin would have my head if it were any longer."

Silence. More damned silence.

"It seems like you're all _trying _to get killed. What happened here anyway?" Death asked

"Just a fight…" Weiss muttered

"A fight that led to Blake's arm being burned off, your sword being broken and Yang's bones being shattered. I barely call that a fight. I would call that 'something you shouldn't be involved in'."

"You weren't here, you don't know…" Yang growled, getting to her feet

"I know so much more than you."

"The nerve-!" Weiss was interrupted when she noticed a shadowed figure standing silently next to her. The figure seemed to stare for a short moment, eliciting fear in Weiss. The figure then held its hand out. Weiss took a moment before looking down at the figure's hand. In its hand it held a snowflake shaped locket and a piece of paper. Weiss instantly recognised the locket and tears welled up in her eyes. Hours seemed to pass as she stared down at the last of her sister's belongings, tears now flowing freely down her face as she covered her mouth with a hand, mortified.

She slowly reached her hand out to take her sister's belongings from the figure's hand. No words were exchanged between the two or anyone else around. The world seemed to cease and grow quiet for those few short moments.

Once again, the figure held its hand out, another silver locket in the shape of a snowflake rested against the figure's palm. Ulius was dead too. More tears gushed from Weiss' eyes. The figure retracted and pocketed its hand again, turning and wandering off into the night, black eyes showing no emotion.

Weiss cried on the floor, pressing her siblings' lockets against her chest as she spoke quietly to herself, trying to comfort herself.

Death looked on.

* * *

><p>Ulius fell to his knees in the endless abyss of the Soul Crystal. He begged to see his sister once more, begged to be made real again, just for a second. Just so he could comfort her, tell her that it was alright. He wanted Winter to be there with them. He asked why Winter couldn't be with him in the void, why she had to go away from her family.<p>

Death simply said, 'No,' and politely declined his request.

Ulius Schnee grew angry.

* * *

><p><strong>One Month Later<strong>

"Today, students, we have a special sparring match request, courtesy of Professor Ozpin." As Goodwitch spoke she stared directly into Death's eyes, making sure to cover up any slight amount of fear in her voice. Death took his place in the center of the arena floor, looking up at the students seated comfortably in their seats, anticipating what this 'special request' was.

"Mr D will be fighting each member of team RWBY one on one, one after the other, regardless if he wins or loses." Did Goodwitch doubt Death's abilities? No, she just didn't want to believe that the real Death was standing in the same room with her.

"Disarms will not be validated in these following contests.

The first member of team RWBY, Ruby Rose, stepped into the arena, embedding her Crescent Rose in the floor next to her as a way of 'preparing' for the battle ahead. Death very much admired her choice of weapon seeing as it was his personal favourite too, but that did mean that Death knew the ins and outs of scythes, each simple to complex pattern that a wielder would be able to perform, even if most of them defied gravity.

He had kept a watchful eye on her during initiation and even before Beacon as a whole, when she had last visited her mother's grave deep in the forest and was ambushed by a seemingly unlimited amount of Beowolves. Ever since that day, Death had been sure to watch her closely.

"Amsterdam, analysis." Death spoke quietly and a voice echoed in his head as a reply.

"_Speed based attacks, gun attachment will deal a maximum of 3% damage to our armor without aura support, 0%-0.5% with aura support, most ranged attacks will ricochet. Semblance is speed, will undoubtedly use that to her advantage, especially after seeing the quick win against Cardin Winchester the previous month. Will most likely stick to ranged attacks, knowing our lethality up close."_

A robotic voice echoed throughout the arena as it counted down to the start of the match, "5"

Death summoned Famine and Conquest, readying the dual sickles in his hands

"4"

Death took up a running stance, ready to dash forward and close the gap between him and Ruby to avoid getting shot.

"3"

Death activated his aura and dismissed his usual barrier made of Soul power. He would not need it today.

"2"

Death summoned his armor, the grey coils wrapping around his body to form the powerful metal defence over his hooded clothes and gloves.

"1"

Death tilted his head, Ruby adopted a confused look.

"BEGIN!"

Death blinked forward, covering half the space between him and Ruby, the girl had already started firing shot after shot from her sniper. The 50 Calibre rounds pinged harmlessly off Death's metal pated torso as he charged forward, weaving left and right to avoid any bullets aimed at his head. He blinked once more, this time above Ruby.

He fell baring Famine, aiming to strike down his opponent from above. Ruby used the recoil of Crescent Rose to dodge Death's sudden overhead attack, Famine missing her by a mere inch. The sickle lodged itself into the ground, cracks quickly forming around the entry point. Death left Famine impaled in the ground and rolled to dodge a vertical swipe from Crescent Rose. Conquest blocked an overhead attack from the scythe and locked it in place above Death's head as he forced his foot into Ruby's midsection, sending her flying backwards. Ruby was smart enough to fold Crescent Rose before being kicked and was able to keep a firm grip on her weapon whilst also managing to rip Conquest from Death's grasp using his own kick as leverage to do so. Death's powerful kick had forced the young girl's aura down an eighth.

Death took this chance to summon the new version of Dead Man's Wail into his hands, the long rifle forming out of the same silky grey matter that formed his weapons. He aimed down the sights, quickly firing a charged bullet like he hadn't even needed to aim. The soul bullet rocketed through the air at immense speed, releasing sickening screams echoed out by the souls of dead men, impacting its target almost instantly and staggering the small girl. Ruby's aura dropped just under half, flashing from a healthy green to a pale yellow.

Another shot rang out from the rifle as the bullet screamed its way through the barrel of the mighty gun, once again impacting its target, dropping her aura into the red. How much Ruby was thankful to have her aura to protect her fragile little body. This rifle was definitely a success in Death's eyes, Ulius was proud of his work.

Death assumed that her aura wouldn't have been able to absorb all of the impact, so she would leave with a couple broken ribs, perhaps a fractured arm.

A buzzer sounded and the match was called to a halt. The same robotic voice echoed out through the arena.

"NEXT CONTESTANT"

A few short minutes passed as Ruby removed herself from the stage and Weiss took her place, brandishing her newly remade Myrtenaster. The dust cartridges in the hilt of the sword rotated shortly before coming to a halt. As Weiss was coming to the stage, Death noticed that she had stopped shortly and was exchanging a few words with her team leader. Advice, no doubt. This would get harder for Death, the last was just a simple walk in the park, the last would be a battle.

"Amsterdam, analysis." He requested again

"_This one is fast and tricky. Semblance is glyphs, ranging from anti-gravity to time distortion. Fast attack patterns. Fencing style combat. That's about all I'm getting."_

The robotic voice made itself present again, sounding the countdown once more. Death summoned Famine and Conquest, banishing Dead Man's Wail.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. BEGIN!"

Weiss shot forward with the speed of a bullet, looking to impale Death on her blade. Death spun to the left, deflecting Myrtenaster before the blade would get a lick of his armor. Weiss was sent stumbling off course by a swift metal plated elbow delivered to the side of her head. Death followed up his counter by throwing Famine and Conquest at his opponent but both were blocked by a quickly conjured glyph. Death summoned Famine and Conquest back to his hands and charged Weiss.

A quick flurry of attacks from Weiss forced Death to block with incredible speed as he channelled his energy into his arms, reflecting and redirecting each attack, followed up by a head-butt that knocked the Schnee heiress silly. Death took a moment to regain his composure from the incredibly fast flurry of attacks from his opponent. He expected her to be fast, but not that fast. Physics be damned.

_Rest In Peace  
>Physics<br>13.8 BYA-9334  
>Brutally butchered by a girl too fast<em>

That sounded pretty good in Death's head.

The two were at a standoff, each wielding their respective weapons in their hands. Suddenly, Death sent Famine and Conquest flying once more, the dual sickles impacting a quickly conjured glyph once more. Whilst Famine and Conquest were flying towards their target, Death had blinked back and conjured Dead Man's Wail once more and was ready to unload a pair of soul bullets on his opponent.

Seeing the weapon that had ended Ruby's time in the arena with Death, Weiss quickly conjured a time glyph, enhancing her movement speed and reaction time substantially, just in time to dodge two bullets from Dead Man's Wail. Death fired once more but the bullet was dodged again, just before several glyphs appeared in a dome around him. Death's figure was too large to fit between the small gaps in between the glyphs so he rolled forward, pressing his back against one of the multiple glyphs and preparing for an assault.

The assault came, slash after slash after slash Myrtenaster attempted to cut Death down, but still Death stood, blocking the few attacks he could and finally rolling away once the onslaught of metal against metal was over. Surprisingly, his aura dropped into the yellow. This was not really an issue for Death.

Death learned from experience, this trick would not work again.

The dust chambers in Myrtenaster rotated and Weiss cast a line of flames forward, aimed straight at Death. He rolled left only to be met with multiple jabs from Weiss' blade, each one blocked with expertise and followed by a leg sweep that sent Weiss falling to the ground.

Before Weiss could hit the floor, cold steel was pressed against her neck and she soon found herself staring into the golden eyes of Death, suspended only by his sickle above her own flames, her aura dropping into the red.

Just as Weiss' aura dropped into the red, Death pulled her up away from the flames and gripped her tightly by the arm, leaning into her ear.

"You are something new," he uttered into her ear, "Something completely different."

He released her arm and she left the stage with a confused but angered look on her face, probably from him handling her like that.

The same process repeated and Blake Belladonna, former White Fang member, cat faunus, took her place in the arena.

"Analysis"

"_Fast, sneaky. Semblance is shadow clones, attacks from multiple sides, can be used as platforms. Cat faunus, reaction times are quick. May I suggest trialling Ulius' new sword?"_

"Yes, you may…"

Death banished Famine and Conquest, summoning 'Angel of The Abyss', a new longsword Ulius had been working on that was light enough and sizable enough to be used in one hand. The design was simple, a slender but strong blade that would cut through most things with ease, especially flesh. His left gauntlet became thicker to block attacks and the tips of the fingers became longer and sharpened themselves to be used as claws. Death was unsure as to how this would work, but last time he tried the combo of claws and sword, he had been on a roll in the virtual simulations, able to easily block, even hold, enemies' weapons and counter effectively.

Death started off the fight, charging and swinging his sword in an obvious arc, just to see how the faunus girl would react. For a moment, it seemed like she didn't, but Angel of The Abyss came in contact with a mere clone and Death felt something rattle the shoulder plates of his armor. He spun, swinging the longsword and only cutting through air before reaching a clawed hand above him and slicing at the skin of the cat girl who had tried to repeat her same trick.

Death learned.

She was sent sprawling to the floor, her aura absorbing the brunt of the impact as well as the sharpened claws of Death's gauntlet. Her aura had already dropped into the yellow, Death's clawed hand proving even further that it was a reliable weapon. He readied himself for another attack.

This time, she attacked up front, speed in her strikes and using her shadow clones to strike as she struck. Each attack was predictable and each attack was blocked or redirected by Angel of The Abyss. Her final attack was caught in Death's clawed hand and Gambol Shroud was wrenched from her grip before Death sent a fast kick at her only to throw his foot into air as his opponent leapt over him, landing behind him.

Gambol Shroud now in his hands, Death got a quick feel for the weapon's mechanism, the schematics running through his head based on what Ulius and Death's own personal research had told him. Death used the pistol mechanism and emptied the entire clip at his opponent, most bullets dodged but a couple making their mark. Gambol Shroud shifted into its sword form as Blake's aura dropped further into the yellow.

He made one final charge, swinging the two blades in a dance of death until Blake's aura dropped into the red and the buzzer sounded, prompting Death to cease his attack. He handed Gambol Shroud back to its owner without saying a single word and waited on his final opponent.

Yang stepped into the arena and the crowd fell completely silent, the undefeated blonde brawler versus the hooded reaper (as most students had taken to calling him due to his sinister appearance). Who would win?

Yang readied her Ember Celica and Death banished Angel of The Abyss and his right gauntlet shifted to mimic his left with the similar grey misty substance, a duo he liked to call 'Mrtyu', the Sanskrit word for death.

Mrtyu wrapped themselves around Death's hands and fingers, constricting and choking them like ruthless vines. Death felt nothing, only the satisfaction of having a hand as a weapon. Death dropped into a fighting stance, as did Yang.

The buzzer sounded and the match begun.

Yang started by firing a multitude of shots aimed at his torso. Death stood completely still, only tilting his body slightly to avoid the oncoming shots. Yang closed the distance fast and reinitiated her attack with a collection of jabs aimed up, towards Death's hooded, masked face. Each jab was swatted away by Mrtyu, followed by the occasional slash at the wrist. She used the exact same combination of attacks as she had a few months prior, just outside her team's dorm room when she was angered with Death about his comment during initiation. She started her jabs up high and then went to the midsection. The rhythm of a boxer. None of them connected.

She tried to finish off with a strong right hook but Death stepped forward, catching the inside of her arm and delivering two forceful punches to her midsection, doubling her over. He ended with a quick slash to her face that pierced her aura, leaving a pair of bloodied red cuts engraved on her cheek.

Death tilted his head. Was the fight really going to be this easy?

Yang approached again, reversing her attack pattern and firing off her Ember Celica each time she punched. She sped up her attack but the same thing repeated itself. Death blocked and redirected each attack, expertly manoeuvring his body to avoid the heated shotgun blasts. Again, he halted her offensive with another slash to the face, leaving a third cut on her cheek, his second finger catching something else instead. A strand of golden hair floated down to the floor, detached from Yang's head. Her face grew angry and heat emanated off her. Death blinked back. The crowd gasped.

The anger was visible now, her hair grew brighter than ever, her eyes turning from her usual gentle lilac to a deadly crimson. If her new appearance was anything to go by, this wasn't exactly going to be much fun.

"YOU MONSTER!" She erupted, flames engulfing her body and scattering over the arena as she dashed forward, firing two shots from her Ember Celica.

Instead of dodging, Death blocked the projectiles, creating a cloud of smoke around him. He wanted to make this as quick and easy as possible, so he would use stealth and vision to his advantage.

Yang's hair shone through the smoke like a star in space, making it easy for Death to incapacitate her, sending a multitude of clawed fingers to every inch of her body, shredding clothing and flesh like a piranha on its prey.

Death was disappointed.

These were meant to be the heroes of this era?

Oh well, they were still young.

Yang ended up leaving the fight hoisted over Death's shoulder, headed to the infirmary. Most of the scratches were light, but some were deep and required medical attention. She could barely stand and the claws hurt like hell when they dug through her skin.

"I expected more from you…" Death sighed as they turned a corner. Yang mumbled something along the lines of 'f*ck you', to which Death responded with a short 'hah'

"You'll live. I didn't use lethal poison."

Yang started thrashing about on Death's shoulder, trying to throw herself out of Death's grip.

"Only joking."

Yang groaned.

"What do I have to do to get you to like me in the _slightest _bit?"

"Rematch…" she mumbled

"Rematch?" he repeated

"Rematch." She confirmed

"No aura." He requested

"No armor." She demanded

"If I win?" he asked

"Maybe I respect you some…" she mumbled

"If you win?" he asked

"Hmm… You do one thing I ask. Anything I ask."

"Deal."

"One more thing…"

"Shoot"

"I want to ask a favour from you…"

"Mhm"

"I want you to train me."

"I'm sorry?"

"I want you to train me."

"Uh… I suppose so. Don't see the harm in that. After the rematch?"

"After the rematch." Yang let out a groan of pain when Death slumped her down on a bed.

"Ow…" she groaned, clutching various parts of her body.

"…I suppose I went a little overboard."

Yang nodded, Death walked away.

"Just don't bleed to death!" he called out, "Tomorrow comes today!" Yang was left with a confused look on her face as he headed back to his dorm.

Death was just about starting to enjoy his time here.

Why wouldn't he?

* * *

><p><strong>Le sigh. Death's diary next.<strong>


	15. Death's Diary: Weiss Schnee

**I'll let you guys in on some of my original plans.  
>I originally planned on Death wielding a bow named 'Shayamal' (Derived from Sanskrit, meaning "dark, black") In place of Famine and Conquest.<strong>

**Should I introduce this weapon as a new weapon?**

**Here are the current weapons for Death:**

**Famine and Conquest: **Dual wielded, twin sickles (main weapons)

**Dead Man's Wail: **Powerful long barrel rifle, Soul power as ammunition

**Mrtyu: **Dual claws (attached to gauntlets)

**Harvester: **Death's Scythe

**The Soul Crystal: **(Weapon currently undefined, will play a part later on)

**(Did I miss any? Say so)**

* * *

><p><strong>Death's Diary: Weiss Schnee<strong>

Welcome to my diary, Schnee.

A day had passed since the 'mission' (more of a test to see what I was capable of) and Weiss Schnee was already recovering well. She had woken up three hours after she was brought to Vale Hospital and now I was being forced to watch her whilst she slept.

As if I wasn't creepy enough.

I am still unsure as to why I agreed to do this. I say 'forced' but Ruby had merely asked me to watch over her partner to which I hesitantly agreed. I now sat in the darkness of a hospital room; the only light offered was the moonlight seeping through the thick curtains of the room.

I watched the young heiress as she violently tossed and turned in her sleep, fighting off her inner demons whilst I simply sat and stared. Her hair was a mess though her body was healing well, no longer a mass of cuts, bruises and blood.

What I did then was rather… peculiar, even to myself. I leant over to her as she shifted about in the hospital bed and I looked at her face, trying to gather up her emotions in my head. Then, I spoke to her. I asked her a question when my face was mere inches from hers.

"Weiss… What's one thing you crave?" I mused and tilted my head. I continued staring at the sleeping girl who had now calmed her thoughts and was lying perfectly motionless, faced to the ceiling.

"Is it a cure to your loneliness?" I had leaned down and I remember feeling her soft breath against my cold face. She looked so innocent while she slept, something completely different compared to when she was awake.

"The desire to kill all those who have wronged you?" She turned in her sleep as my cold, emotionless breath brushed against her face.

"What really goes on in that broken mind of yours?" I had remained staring for a short time but I eventually returned to my seat and fixed my glare on a clock that hung just above the doorframe at the end of the room.

* * *

><p>Several weeks before the arena fight, Weiss Schnee fell to her knees in the hallway, tears still flowing freely down her face as she begged for advice, begged for my help. She spoke to her teammates, their help was not enough. She threw her final hopes onto me.<p>

I had leaned down and looked her in her pained face, her eyes which burned with a mix of pain and anger, and I told her, "Let go." Anger had filled her eyes at my ridiculous advice and she silently stood to leave, turning her back to me.

"Or are you weak?" I had spoken to her, back turned to face me, "Do you dwell on the past? Is this where all this hate is from? This loneliness?" The tears filled her eyes again at hearing what she knew was true.

"Learn to accept the truth, girl. Accept death for all it is. Strength in understanding."

I would offer up no more advice that night, I had said enough, even calling her a girl instead of using her name. It wasn't my place, but I felt determined to help these people however I could.

I suppose I'm just getting tired of seeing the world burn, seeing lives lost to anger and hatred, pointless death.

It just bores me.

* * *

><p>I could remember her performance at White Castle several months ago. I was there. I had nothing better to do.<p>

The lyrics were painful; anyone with the slightest lick of intelligence would be able to pick up on that. But barely anyone is intelligent nowadays.

I remember standing on the stage in front of her as the audience slowly filed out of the castle. I remember that she stayed in the same position for nearly thirty minutes; I could've even sworn she cried a little near the end of her song.

Loneliness.

That is what I had gathered from Weiss Schnee. Tried to hide it by being, as some may say, difficult. Tried to cover it with a mask. But no mask is worn forever. This one was barely ever on anymore.

I was curious, I admit that. Such an old being ought to be curious about something so new.

I will get my answers, no matter how long it takes.

But I want them now.

I want to hear her story from her own living lips, beating from her own beating heart.

I want them before she dies.

* * *

><p><strong>May be some time before the next chapter. If that is so, I'm sorry<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Recommended Story: <strong>_**A Remnant of my Soul**_ by SilentSongXIII

After a terrible accident at a dust mining site many years ago Isaiah gained a semblance that's both a gift... and a curse. Now he is on the run from those who wants to use it for their own greed. After being driven out of his school in Atlas by the White Fang he seeks refuge from Professor Ozpin as he tries to find a way to control his semblance. Rated T for now.

**(Please know that I recommend this story because I want to, it was never requested that I do so)**


	16. Chapter 12 - Rematch

**Chapter 12:**

News spread quickly around the school, hushed conversations already being thrown about between most first and second year students.

Yang Xiao Long and the aberrant Mr D were to be fighting in the arena at 10:30am, an hour from now.

A large number of students were already gathered in the school's arena, anxiously awaiting the start of the match. Food was sold in the stands to prepare for the oncoming battle, a creative student had even posted leaflets about the school, drawing an even larger crowd.

The minutes passed slowly and the current crowd in the arena stands had managed to settle down about half an hour before the start of the match. Still, the minutes ticked by.

Death hadn't expected this fight to be a cakewalk as the last one had been. The previous had been ridiculously easy, too easy. Yang Xiao Long was obviously holding back, for what reasons, Death was unsure.

The restraint in the fight was obvious; Death had witnessed the blonde clear out an entire club before. Something was different. She was most likely trying to scope him out. If so, Death would be switching between weapons and fighting styles very often during the length of the upcoming match.

At the moment, Death feared for his own health. No aura _and _no armor? If she landed just one hit on him with Ember Celica he would most likely end up with a missing, or at least inactive, arm, or a couple cracked ribs. That was only if she managed to miraculously land a hit on him, which would be highly unlikely, unless she dismissed her usual rhythm and switched it for something more unpredictable. Hell, even randomly placed strikes would be better to use against him than her current rhythm, Death having already figured it out.

During this fight, Death would be focusing on predicting attacks based on body and muscular movement and redirecting said attacks rather than blocking them, seeing as her gauntlets would suffice in separating his limbs from his body. Honestly, where would these mortals be without their aura?

Of course, there was always the option of using Soul power as a barrier, but Death liked a clean fight. He wasn't one for cheating, though he would often bend the rules slightly to his favour if needed.

Death summoned the duo of Mrtyu and touched the tips of his clawed fingers together. Once satisfied with something obscure, he lowered his clawed hands down to his sides and stepped into the light of the arena.

Death didn't very much enjoy the lights of arenas. He felt they always put the combatants on the spot (which they did) and made them somewhat nervous. Those who weren't nerved by the spotlight would become overconfident and begin basking in the glorious light that shone down on them. A small few would block out the entire idea that they were encased in an arena. Death liked to envision he and his opponent in a completely baron field, devoid of any light or darkness alike, a completely transparent area that would hone his senses and allow him to focus precisely on movements that his opponent would make.

He did just that with his current opponent, Yang Xiao Long. Her figure stuck out brighter than any other, judging her movements would be easy.

Though perhaps not. Something constantly bugged him out of the corner of his eye. Something stood in the stands amongst the small crowds. Death had zoned out the crowds and surroundings, though that one figure still remained, plain as day.

A buzzer sounded in the distance of Death's barren landscape and Yang rushed forward, opening the fight with a large right hook. Death leaned back, narrowly avoiding the fist just as another came flying directly at his face. He ducked and then swivelled to avoid another fist that arrived seemingly before he had even dodged the second attack.

The same figure, shroud in black, caught Death's glare once more and distracted his eyes just long enough for his opponent to clip her fist on his cheek. Luckily enough for him, no shotgun shells had been fired and he got off with only a lightly grazed cheek.

The distance between the two competitors grew larger and they stood in a face off. Death cracked his neck, simultaneously attempting to erase the shadowed figure from his vision.

The two met once more, Yang throwing a flurry of randomly aimed fists at Death, each one redirected. He tried to counter with a swipe, but Yang saw this coming and ducked under with inhuman speed, delivering a blow to his midsection. Death shoved her back with an almighty force, sending Yang rolling onto the floor.

Quickly regaining her composure, Yang noticed Death's golden eyes darting to and fro around the arena and at their surroundings, seemingly in worry as he readied for her next attack. She was tempted to question his current state; his combat prowess had quite clearly stooped rather low, for what reasons, she didn't know.

Yang went on the offensive once more, firing off two shots from her Ember Celica. Death rolled to avoid each one, standing to parry a blow from Yang's fist. Jabs flew like spears towards Death and were followed up by a right hook, countered by Death who quickly closed the small gap between the two fighters and jabbing the inside of her arm before ramming his shoulder into her sternum, sending her staggering back and gripping at her chest.

Yang felt invigorated, feeling pain course through her chest and arm. She pressed forward, attacks becoming more ferocious by the second.

The sudden flurry of attacks came unexpected to Death, though he managed to parry or redirect each one with relative ease. The attacks grew faster and stronger and yet Death still could not find an opening to attack his opponent, her legs now being used on rare occasions in an attempt to break his defence. The figure captured his eyes once more, this time on the transparent flooring of his mind, right behind Yang, still covered in a shroud of shadows.

The distraction offered Yang an opening and she took it, delivering a right hook to his chin, staggering him only slightly, and then a left hook to his liver, bending his figure slightly. She drove a leg into his chest and he staggered back, absorbing several punches and shotgun shells from Yang's Ember Celica. The assault only halted when the distinct 'crack' of bone drifted to Yang's ear, above all the other noise.

Death fell to his knees, supported by only one of his arms as Yang came to his aid, kneeling down beside him, hesitant to touch him should she do something wrong. His eyes and head still darted around as his mind drifted back into the real world, revealing the arena floor and stands packed with people.

The crowd was shocked and silent.

Her opponent's sharp golden eyes darted around hastily, scanning every inch of the arena before finally resting on Yang's soft lilac eyes. His left eye flickered on and off, like a light bulb trying to maintain its light in a moonlit room, eventually fading to nothing. Whatever took the place of that golden shine in his eye was now covered by the shroud of darkness covered by his hood. His right eye faded slightly, still flickering between black and gold every second or so.

His remaining eye did not bare the usual calm demeanour, but instead donned a slightly frightened, if not angered look.

The second strangest thing that Yang had noticed was the distinct lack of blood. She had just realised that she had planted several shotgun shells into his body, yet not a single ounce of blood was to be seen. Instead, the usual crimson red was replaced by a steady flow of grey, wispy air, bearing a resemblance to smoke, yet calmer. The greyish air settled on the floor for a few moments before fading away and instantly being replaced.

His left arm hung limp as he shakily stood to his feet, Yang doing the same as she supported him as best she could. He gazed his limp arm with his one good eye before gripping the bicep with a firm grip and tugging ferociously. There were no screams of pain, not even a whimper from Death as his arm graciously detached from his shoulder and fell to the ground, more grey air seeping from the fresh wound. He fell to his knees again and once more rose to his feet.

Silently, he stalked out of the arena, his opponent in too much shock to follow immediately after him. After a brief pause, Yang ran to catch up, noticing the arm had completely dissolved into the ground.

She followed silently for a couple minutes, being led to her own dorm room. Death stood by the door, trying to cover the area where his arm had once been attached to his body. His breathing had completely ceased as he just stared toward the door. Yang opened the door.

He stumbled through the doorway, falling to one knee for a moment but quickly regaining his footing and then throwing himself onto Blake's bed. The greyish matter still seeped from his wounds to the floor; some of it was even drawn towards Yang, towards life. Yang was still unsure how this man was still alive, or if it was even a man at all.

"Hand."

She was hesitant to offer her hand, but found him snatching it from her side in a vice-like grip. She felt her energy drain from her and her aura flared before slowly fading. Her aura seemed to move from her body to his, leaving her weakened and in a state of confusion and anger. She simply watched on, perplexed as he released her hand and her energy slowly returned to her. She hadn't noticed the remainder of team RWBY arriving through the door behind her

The greyish lines leaking from his shoulder shifted to form the basic image of an arm over the length of a minute. He flexed the vaguely formed arm and swung it about briefly before more grey matter moved to form the outline of the bones in his arm and hand. The greyish matter soon shifted and transformed, becoming real bone. More grey lines twisted to form muscles and eventually skin. A final layer shifted to form a sleeve and glove.

It took quite a harsh toll on his Soul power, forming new limbs. **60%**

Death reached his newly formed arm up and gripped the metal railings of the bed above him, his wounds having also healed during the process. He looked up, singular golden eye still flickering on and off, to team RWBY, all standing perplexed in their dorm room. He prepared for the onslaught of questions, possibly even anger. They didn't come for a full five minutes, but they eventually arrived.

"Doitagain! Doitagain!"

"How-?!"

*angry glare*

"You could've died!"

Well, the last question wasn't really a question, the first was a request and the third wasn't even worded.

"Good." Was Death's simple reply to Yang's sudden outburst.

"Good?! I could've killed you!"

"And how far would you make it in life if you were not prepared to kill?"

"That doesn't matter right now!"

"Besides, I thought we weren't friends. Why would you care for my wellbeing if we were not of any significance to each other?" Death found mortal emotions and thoughts complicated, if not stupid at some times.

"What!? Just because we aren't friends it doesn't mean I would leave you to die! We're human beings, not monsters!"

Death sighed, "But that is where your reasoning becomes inapplicable. Do you honestly believe I, of all people, am human? After all you have just seen."

"What the hell else could you be?" Yang's tone grew more ferocious by the second.

"I have dropped little hints here and there. One of you already knows, yet she does not want to admit so." Death cast his gaze over to Blake who stood observing the current argument.

"One has read the stories, but dismissed them as fairy tales." His gaze drifted to Ruby, who stood in awe.

"One has seen me before." His one good eye now rested on Weiss, who looked completely dumbfounded as she tried to reason the current events that had just transpired.

"But one is blinded by joy and happiness. Two emotions that do not belong in this world." His gaze cemented itself on Yang's lilac eyes once more.

The room stood in silence for a short moment.

"How does Blake know!?" Weiss burst out. Blake was about to answer, but Death beat her to it.

"As you know, she is a faunus, she identifies mostly by scent. I have no scent. She researched the abnormality but to no avail. There were many possibilities, but it seems she has settled with the correct one."

Blake spoke up with her own question, "How did you know?"

"Age comes with knowledge, though knowledge is not really very viable in such a broken world."

"Why did you pull your arm off?"

"Simpler to make than repair…"

"It wasn't just a broken bone then?" Yang asked. Death fell silent for a moment before speaking quietly.

"Mortals…" Death began to mutter, "All broken, everything is…"

He earned several strong looks from team RWBY

"I explain more tomorrow. I have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment." Death ended up barging his way through the door after Yang attempted to block him. He set his sights on finding the shaded figure that plagued his mind.

* * *

><p><strong>That fight scene was meant to be sh*t, by the way, just the way I felt after finding out my little bro broke his wrist :(<strong>


	17. Chapter 13 - A Demon Amongst Mortals

**Chapter 13:**

Death stood alone at the foot of a great statue that stood in Beacon's courtyard, graced with the presence of that same shadowed figure that had invaded his mind during his last fight. They stood face to face, golden eye to a blank sheet of blackened paper.

The blanket of night had fallen and only one student, Blake Belladonna, managed to catch the entire conversation.

"What are you doing here?" The Reaper looked to arouse **(Deal with it)** a conversation with the figure.

The shadow spoke no words in return, only tilting its head as a response.

"I'll ask again, what is a demon doing in the mortal realm?"

No response came for a while, but it came eventually.

"I am here to strike a deal with the Angel of Life and Death." The demon spoke with fire in its voice, crackling and spitting its words.

"Speak quickly, demon."

"I have been… released from service to the Lord for… disobeying God's word. You see, I was sent by the Lord to punish a certain 'Yang Xiao Long'. I _may_ have gathered a slight touch of sympathy after looking into the girl's past and I _may _have disobeyed my directions, resulting in my release to the mortal world."

"Why were you sent to punish her?"

"Now now, a demon's business is its own, I'm sure you would understand that."

"Of course. What did you have in mind for this 'deal'?"

"I am simply looking for a safe haven. In return, I offer my service to you, friend." The demon mocked a bow.

"And you expect to find safe haven with an angel?"

"With all due respect, whilst you may be labelled as an angel, I'm sure most would think otherwise. Besides, it's worth a shot. And it sure would be better than wandering around pointlessly in this cracked world."

"I am not obliged to offer a demon sanctuary. The Lord would not see it so."

"But then why on earth would the Lord confine me to one realm, the mortal realm no less. The Lord would surely know that my… demonic heritage would drive me to kill simply for… entertainment."

Death remained silent in thought for a brief moment but spoke up quickly, "Very well, your reasoning is sound. It would be most illogical for the Lord to abandon a demon in the mortal realm. You will find sanctuary with me for my brief time period in this realm."

An invisible smile licked across the lips of the demon's shadowed face, "I'm glad we could come to an agreement. I will refrain from the sight of the students until necessary."

The sudden appearance of this demon prompted one final question from the Reaper, "One more thing, there wouldn't happen to be any Apparitions in this realm, would there?"

"Ah, about that… I have found two Apparitions, both lay dormant in the ancient Strange Folk temple just east of here. Shall that be all, angel?"

"That shall be all."

At that, the demon vanished in a cloud of black smoke, erasing itself from the area.

* * *

><p>Blake snuck quietly through the door to her dorm, clicking it shut behind her and moving slyly over to her bed. She stopped midway to her resting place when she noticed a familiar looking figure reading a familiar looking book in her bunk. She quickly scrambled to snatch her beloved 'Ninjas of Love' book from Death's hand, failing when she was blocked by a gloved palm.<p>

"I'm surprised to see you reading this," came his emotionless voice from the darkness of her bunk, "_You _of all people."

The cat faunus squirmed as she desperately tried to reclaim her guilty pleasure book, failing to do so once more.

"For someone who has murdered few and come close to murdering many, I'm surprised to see you reading such smutty romance."

Blake froze.

"How did you know?" She demanded, a slight amount of fear building inside her.

"I am Death. I do as I please and I have been watching you for some time. I am curious as to one thing though…"

Anger welled up inside Blake.

"Why did you leave?"

"They didn't deserve to die! I got tired of killing, of what the White Fang had become!"

"No no no, I know that… Why did you leave _him_?"

"…him?"

"You know every last inch of my meaning. Either answer the question, or don't. The choice is simple."

Tears gathered in her eyes at the memory of her former White Fang partner, Adam Taurus. Why did he have to bring this subject up?

"I shall take your silence as a polite 'no'. I shall receive your questions tomorrow, and I shall reply with a manageable 'yes'. I'll be here when I'm prepared." And just like that, he was gone, not a trace left behind.

* * *

><p>Death sat motionless on a decrepit wooden chair that looked too dull to support his weight. He was perfectly centred and looking straight through the glass window in his dorm room, staring gravely at the shattered moon of Remnant. Below the window, a demon sat intently, hands folded over crossed legs. It completely lacked any bodily details, no muscle, no skin, no eyes, just a sickened silhouette that sat painstakingly against the wooden wall beneath the wooden windowsill.<p>

"So you say you are restricted from killing mortals?" its silhouetted jaw moved only slightly when it spoke, still a vicious tone in its words.

"That is a problem that may present itself soon." Death replied, hand clasped over his golden eyes, the right eye having gained a small amount of its colour back, though remained de-saturated.

"I'm afraid I cannot help you in that aspect." The demon now stood in front of the window, centring itself in Death's vision.

"Just because it is against my existence to kill mortals, it doesn't mean I can't bend the rules in my favour." Death removed his hand from his eyes, resting it on the side of the old wooden chair.

"I like where this is headed…" An invisible smile danced across an invisible pair of lips on the demon's lacking face.

"This is why you are here." Death now stood in front of the demon.

"I live to serve." The demon's sinister voice sounded as if it could crack the walls with its concentration.

"When I call upon you to do these deeds, do not get ahead of yourself. I may terminate you when I wish to do so."

"Of course. I abide by the rules of my masters."

"Good. Now, go explore." He ushered the demon away, "And don't get caught."

"Not a problem." The demon replied. It wouldn't really be a problem. As soon as the demon was out of the door, it seemed to just blend into its surroundings. A keen-eyed Faunus may be able to pick it out, but the odds were rather low.

Now that the demon was away, Death focused his mind on something that had been bothering him for the past few weeks. The Soul Crystal.

The strange gem had been radiating all kinds of lights when he summoned it to the mortal world. He felt like it was trying to tell him something, but he dismissed that reasoning, instantly deciding that would be stupid.

Soul Crystals were designed by the Strange Folk for one reason and one reason only, housing souls. Death was surprised that Ozpin had gotten his hands on an empty Soul Crystal rather than a full, even a partially full Soul Crystal.

He would have to make a trip to the ancient Strange Folk temple sometime. But, first things first, he would need to interrogate Ozpin.

That was where he went, to Ozpin's office, and he was glad to find him there, almost like he was waiting for somebody.

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><p>"Have a seat," The Headmaster gestured to a seat opposing his wooden desk.<p>

"I shall accept your questions before I utter mine," Death proclaimed, seating himself in the seat Ozpin had gestured towards.

"Very well, we shall start simple. Are you what I think you are?"

"Yes."

"Why are you here?"

"Survival."

Ozpin leaned forward, picking his coffee mug off his desk and taking a small sip before speaking once more, "Survival?"

"The lack of death in your world has… troubled me somewhat. This has forced me down to the mortal realm as a mortal myself." He flexed his gloved hand a little, "I still remain unimpressed with the mortal body."

"Why does survival drive you down to our realm?"

"I will not discuss that point with you."

"Very well… Are there any other angels or demons on Remnant?"

"So you did your research… You believe in angels and demons?"

"Apparently, an angel is seated before me right now."

Death cracked a smile beneath his mask, "What if I am lying?"

"I am willing to bet that you are not."

"You are so inclined to trust me?"

"Not so much, but I am prone to believe nearly anything after… current events."

"They spoke to you?"

"They told me everything. Scared out of their mind, they were."

"They were just unaccepting. I doubt they will accept my true nature."

"You plan to reveal yourself?"

"Only to them, possibly JNPR if need be. To answer your previous question, there is currently only one demon on Remnant as of this moment. I feel able to trust you with minor secrets, so I shall tell you that this demon is currently inside your school."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "Will this 'demon' be a problem to me?"

"Not at all. It is under my command, I assure your student's safety."

Silence, Ozpin soon spoke

"May I ask why you have a demon in your service? The books say that demons are under the service of God, if myths are anything to go by."

"No, you may not ask. Perhaps I have a personal vendetta with someone; perhaps I like the idea of having a slave. I will not tell you my intentions with it."

"So be it then. I assume you have a question for me?"

Death rested the large Soul Crystal on Ozpin's desk, "Tell me where you found this again?"

"Near the temple ruins."

"Did it undergo any scientific testing?"

"None at all. I have kept it a secret between me and Miss Goodwitch."

"Do you know anything about it?"

"Aside from what you have told me, no."

Death remained silent for a moment.

"May I ask a favour of you?" Death spoke again

"That would depend on the favour."

"Choose one team of first year students. Tell them they are to knock on my door in thirty minutes. Also, if you could send one of your teachers with, that would be a fantastic learning curve. Preferably a history teacher. And fill them in on my details."

"May I ask why?"

"A short expedition to one of my favourite places when I was… younger, let's say. I assure you, this will be a package of fun for the children. That is what children like, right? Fun?"

"I'm not so sure I could trust you leading an expedition."

"I assure the safety of your students and chosen teacher. I also guarantee answers, professor. That is what you want, answers, correct?"

Ozpin fell silent for a moment, pondering the thought in his head before giving an answer.

"I will think about it. If my answer is yes, expect my selected students and teacher at your dorm in half an hour. I expect a lot from this, angel."

"Yes, yes…" Death mumbled as he stood from his seat, heading for the door and his dorm room.

9:30pm, obviously the best time to start a late night expedition. What a fun expedition this would be…

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><p><strong>Recommended Story: <strong>_**The Moon's Phases**_ by Gamer AlchemistZ  
>Onyx Lupin has a problem; he was bitten by a Beowolf and now turns into one every time he looks at the moon. Normally, he wouldn't have a problem with that, but now that he's attending Beacon and has made great friends, he senses a bit of a problem arising. Can this Grimm boy help his friends fight the enemy, or will he turn on them in the long run?<p>

**(Please know that I recommend this story because I want to, it was never requested that I do so)**


	18. Death's Diary: Demons and Apparitions

**IT'S ALIVE!**

**Yup, that's right. I'm alive.**

**I am aware that I practically disappeared for a couple of weeks, but I'm back on schedule now. The reason I haven't updated in a couple weeks was because I managed to... damage my finger and hand quite seriously, so I was forced to take some time off writing. I've been trying to write, but the process has been going pretty slowly.**

**But do not fret, updates will be back on schedule with a week wait maximum between chapters, though I do fear that I'll run in to a case of writer's block soon.**

**Review Responses**

**ThatIntrnetGuy: **I wanted to portray Death as a character who has this 'Holier-than-thou' attitude due to his views on how primitive and stupid humanity is. In other words, yes, I did want to make him sound smart. Thanks for reviewing!

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><p><strong>Death's Diary: Demons, Apparitions and New Motives:<strong>

Demons… don't even get me started.

I haven't the slightest respect for demons, yet I am forced to live at their side, vile creatures of fire and shadow, becoming one with their environment, manipulating those around them. They do the Lord's dirty work, they are sent to punish those who have wronged the Lord. Not the most effective system, seeing that one has been released into the mortal realm. The Lord has forced me to personally leash this demon and keep it from slaughtering the mortals. I have promised the creature death if it does so, and I promise to deliver

I don't think God likes me very much…

Do not wrong me; just because I despise demons it does not mean that I respect angels any more. Though I am an angel myself, I prefer to stay away from most. Can't really work out why I have so much hatred towards my own kind…

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><p>Moving on, I am writing this next part on the odd chance that some disrespectable, worthless excuse of a human manages to get their hands on this book and publishes its contents on some social site that revolves around fictional stories based around a multitude of virtual worlds, though I doubt that will happen.<p>

For clarification, Apparitions are not what the books say. 'Apparition' is not just a fancy looking word for ghost or spirit; it is an entirely different thing.

Apparitions are souls transfused from a mortal body to an inanimate object. Most commonly, suits of armor, suits of very high tech armor. The choice of object is most likely because most, if not all Apparitions are the souls of the Strange Folk. They wouldn't shove their souls into toasters now, would they?

Only drawback to this is that their souls are housed in a Soul Crystal, usually suspended in the hollowed torso area of their armor. Destroy the crystal, destroy the being, and send me the soul.

Apparitions are dangerous, and no amount of flashy acrobatics is going to put an Apparition to rest, not even those little feats of combat young Ruby Rose displayed multiple times before and during her enrolment at Beacon Academy.

A certain demon has informed me of two dormant Apparitions in the ancient Strange Folk temple just east of Beacon. I barely even trust myself to trust this demon, but I feel I need to regain my Soul power. As much as I would like to claim a few extra souls, I am aware that the Strange Folk did indeed find a way to… drain the abilities beings like myself in their sacred temple. I would be unable to fight an Apparition in this frail body. That is why I have requested some assistance, a teacher and four first year students.

I have already figured out how to go around this, and it goes like this:

I lock Ozpin's four selected students behind one of the temple's many energy barriers and claim it is a defensive mechanism (because it is), separating me and the teacher from the students. With luck, the students will find the Apparitions and (hopefully) put their souls to rest.

I then take myself and the teacher on a detour through the temple through one of the smaller hallways, just off the main chamber. If there is combat elsewhere in the temple, the guardians will not be a bother to us.

I lecture the teacher on the temple, as promised, and we find the children, each of which will have tracking devices planted on them as per Ozpin's request. They will most likely be injured or worse, but that will not concern me for the moment, I shall leave them to the emergency medical and security force Ozpin will send after we leave, sending them because he would deem me untrustworthy. I would not blame him.

I gather the Soul Crystals from the Apparitions' armor, perhaps collecting their armor as a souvenir for the school, before returning back to the surface. Actually, no, collecting the armor would be impossible; it would most likely melt once uninhabited.

Now… I wouldn't exactly expect the children to return… alive, but if they do, perhaps I could have a little respect for them. That would be nice, to respect a few mortals. It's been a while since I have done that…

I wonder what it's like to have friends…

I see all these mortals wandering about with their friends, conversing about something irrelevant, or laughing. I see friends as a distraction, but I also see Weiss Schnee.

Weiss Schnee, a girl who grew up without a single person to call 'friend', grew up only with a pair of siblings who quickly grew distant from her, grew up without attention from anyone, not even her own father, the very events that moulded her into what she is today, has changed oh so very much. All this change, a brighter attitude, finally conversing with others about… normalities, all this change because of these special people she would call her 'friends'.

It always confused me, human emotion. Maybe I will seek to understand it before war returns and I return to my own realm.

Maybe I will not seek, but strive to understand what it is to be human, what special traits define a human being, a faunus.

No, enough with these dull thoughts, mere distractions. I shall survive, as that is why I am here, nothing else.

* * *

><p><strong>Recommended Story: <strong>_**Not Human, or Faunus, but a friend**_ by Onmy

Yang meets a girl a little bit older than her at the gym, she takes a shining to her and eventually talks to her, wanting to have a match with her. She later learns this girl is homeless and decides to let her stay at team RWBY's dorm as winter approaches. What Yang and her teammates don't know, is that this girl isn't exactly human.

**(Please know that I recommend this story because I want to, it was never requested that I do so)**


	19. Chapter 14 - Temple Expedition, Part 1

**Once again, I am so very sorry for the major delay on this chapter, I just had an unexpected PC switch and wasn't really in the right mood to write this story. I'm hoping things can go back to normal with minimal weekly updates now.**

**Review Responses:**

**Juju-sama – **Thanks for the feedback, great to see you like how Death is portrayed, but this is all from inspiration. Inspiration is everywhere we look; anything can be inspirational if we want it to be.

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><p><strong>Chapter 14:<strong>

Three resounding knocks sounded on the door and Death moved to answer their call immediately, not surprised to see who stood at his doorway, none other than team RWBY and the ever hyperactive Professor Oobleck. Ozpin's choices were easy to glance.

"Enter at your preferred time, smallest first if that isn't a problem." Death beckoned the full girl team forward, along with Oobleck, and they entered as he requested, shortest to largest. Ruby was first in, closely stalked by an abrupt looking Weiss and a cautiously-stepping Blake, then Yang, who looked her usual happy self, though Death expected a tsunami of questions from the blonde. The final to enter was Oobleck, who looked rather eager to get down to business.

"Do me a favour and touch that crystal." Death requested, gesturing to a large, misty crystal on a desk as he seated himself in the old wooden chair that situated itself in the center of the room. He could see Ruby slowly stretching her arm out towards the crystal, but she was stopped in her tracks when Weiss' voice denied the action.

"Hold on a minute," the heiress started, "We don't exactly trust you yet, so we're not about to do anything you tell us to."

"And yet you agreed on a 'field trip' with… me…" Death adopted a confused tone, questioning the girls' reasoning, "I have yet to see the logic behind the majority of your decisions."

"But 'tis a shame that you won't touch the crystal," Death continued, "I wanted to see if it ejected cookies."

The next thing he heard was a soft moaning and he glanced over to see Ruby lying motionless on the floor. Something fierce burnt in the air, wether it was hatred or just plain anger was unknown, but what was known was that fierce air seemed to emmit from Yang Xiao Long, most probably elicited by the fact her very own sister was lying motionless on the floor.

Yang seethed with anger, readying herself to attack, but Death simply sat still on his decrepit wooden chair. He watched the anger seethe through her veins, the girl believing that he had took it too far this time.

Death wasn't really able to capture any of the other atmosphere or people, nor the commotion that suddenly erupted in the room, each person most likely preparing to attack the angel. Chaos was ensuing about the room as Death diverted his attention from the blonde to the Soul Crystal.

The crystal pulsed with a brilliant white light for a moment, as if one were looking in to the sun, before settling and pulsing with a more subtle tone. Ruby Rose still lay motionless on the floor.

The Reaper moved like a ghost through the crowd of panic, shifting his body between the others and towards the pulsating Soul Crystal. It seemed as if nobody saw him move as they continued among their rabble of panic – save Oobleck who watched the Reaper intently.

He scooped up the Soul Crystal, flicked it with his index finger, and looked down to Ruby's motionless body. He then proceeded to talk to the crystal.

"Do you hear me?" he spoke. Silence was the only answer he got for the better of a minute, until…

"Hello?" a young voiced squeaked through his head, showing confusion, if not fear for the current events transpiring.

"Hello Ruby, do you see me?" Death asked, still glaring into the misty crystal

"H-hello? W-what's happening…? Y-Yang?" He sensed her looking through the crystal, looking to her sister

"You need not worry, your sister is merely confused about the events transpiring at this current moment." Death said, peering back to find Yang being restrained by her teammates for some unforseen reason.

"W-what's happening?" Ruby's voice squeaked again

"You touched the crystal. I'm surprised."

"C-crystal?" the young girl soon came to realisation, "Oh…"

"Now, I urge you not to worry when the full memory returns-"

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod"

"-I assure you everything is in order. This is simply an experiment on my behalf."

"You promised me cookies!"

"And I still do. I shall purchase you cookies tomorrow. We currently have larger matters at hand, such as our late-night field trip."

"Wait- where are we going?"

"I shall explain that later, but I am currently confused as to why you are not questioning your surroundings."

Ruby gasped, "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! Where am I? What's going on? Yang!?"

"Please calm yourself," Death said, "I assure you everything will be fine. I shall return you to your body in a moment, please allow me to explain first."

"What's going on!? Explain what!?" Ruby was currently in a frenzy about the situation she had been placed in.

"Your soul has been extracted from your body and moved into this soul crystal. There are two others in there with you, I'm sure you have met them by now."

"What!? Who?"

"Ah, they have not introduced themselves… maybe that is for the better though…" Death paused for a short moment, "Do you see your human shell?"

Silence

"I know you can see it. You will be away from that inadequate prison for a moment… Do you see your sister? I know you can see her. Do you see how she ejects her anger? Do you see the look in her eyes, that look of pain and vengeance? She thinks I am mocking her, speaking to that which I have killed… Do you notice how her semblance has not activated yet? It is because the pain consumes it. It may not seem like it, but her heart aches right now, having just watched you die…"

"I-I-I'm… dead?"

"Not at all. Your body lives without your soul, and I'm sure it will rise and start shambling about aimlessly soon enough."

"L-like a-a zombie?"

"In a way, yes. But the thing I was trying to touch on earlier is that you are very lucky to have someone who cares so much. There are few as lucky as you are."

"W-who are you?"

"You k now who I am." Death smiled beneath his mask. He carried the Soul Crystal down to Ruby's body and urged the young girl forward, "You should start believing in more of those myths and legends, most are worth the time."

"Go on." He ushered her soul forward.

"What do I do?" She said

"Just walk." Death replied

The next few events weren't to be performed with much detail or excitement. Ruby entered her body from the Soul Crystal, her body jerking to life in the presence of her soul and Yang pulling her younger sister into a hug that seemed it would rival the strength of bears. Regardless of her sister's safe return, Yang still acted against Death, throwing her angered punches now that she was free to move.

Her weapons were un-readied and her fists were easily caught in the Reaper's larger hands. He twisted her arm, jostling her muscles and straining her joints. The girl was soon on her knees, trying her best to keep herself from showing the pain that Death elicited in her arm. His golden eyes plunged deep into her lilac eyes, sending a subtle, yet obvious message to the blonde girl.

Though they were in a position to do so, her teammates and teachers offered no help. Death was uncertain as to why, whether it was fear, confusion, or just respect for the girl, knowing she could escape. Well, hoping right about now.

Yang had grasped her arm with her free hand, trying to right its rotation, but to no avail against the Reaper's superior strength.

After the duration of several minutes, each inducing pain into the blonde brawler, Death placed his foot against her face and sent her sliding back across the floor with almighty force. Still, no move was made against Death other than Yang's previous rebuttal against Death's trickery involving the Soul Crystal.

Yang's teammates helped her to her feet, the blonde only slightly dazed, yet now discouraged from attacking Death once more. He hoped she would learn how futile it was to attack him.

"Let us cease wasting our time and set off, shall we?" he gestured for the five others to follow him - which they did, Oobleck leading for safety reasons and most probably because he easily outran (and out walked) everybody else in the group. Blake and Weiss seemed as they normally would be, though Weiss seemed a great deal quieter than she usually was, opting not to speak up against the Reaper as she had done before. Yang was dejected and Ruby seemed somewhat fearful, yet excited at precisely the same time.

The journey to the prepped airship was mostly silent, yet the journey on board the airship was a touch livelier.

* * *

><p>"Did the Arc boy ever talk of legends concerning his ancestors?" Death questioned as the Bullhead lifted off the ground at a steady pace. His questioned was mostly aimed at Ruby Rose, though he averted his gaze to the outside world, mostly gazing down at the forest below.<p>

"Uh… no?" was Ruby's shaky reply

"Hmm…" Memories flashed vividly in his mind, "A shame…"

"What do you mean 'a shame'" Weiss scoffed, her arms folded as she seated herself with her teammates.

"No reason…" He seemed to be lost in a trance of thought as he stared out the open side of the Bullhead, letting his hand slip from the overhead support handle, putting himself at risk of elegantly slipping out the Bullhead. RWBY shook his response off, Yang being the only one to notice his hand falling from the support, yet choosing not to say anything.

All was silent for the next minute until Death spoke up just as the Bullhead began descending, "We're here."

Death, for the part of it, was mostly surprised by the lack of speech from Oobleck. The doctor most likely had somewhere better to be but was suddenly called on by Ozpin or whomever Ozpin may have to make his calls for him.

The Reaper was certain the hyperactive professor was sure to speak up once they entered the temple, if there even was a temple left to enter.

The Bullhead touched down softly, its riders hopping off one by one, Death leading and scouting for Grimm as per Oobleck's request, even though it was against his mind he still complied with the teacher's request.

The Bullhead landed in the same clearing as the small ruins that had been used to house the several 'artefacts' utilized during the students' initiation process. The area was quiet and free of almost all wildlife, almost as if they were repelled from the place.

Death pulled the Soul Crystal from his pocket and looked it over once before turning to walk to one of the stone podiums among the crumbling ruin.

"Why are we here?" Weiss spoke up from beside him, having followed the Reaper rather closely after landing, most likely to watch for anything suspicious from him or just to make sure he didn't kill any of her friends.

"We are here because there is something I wish to show you all." Death said, "In all truthfulness, it almost angers me how not a single soul has been able to pick out any… abnormal appearances in these ancient ruins." He took a knee, facing a small, hand-sized slot carved into the stone at the base of the centre-most stone podium. He fiddled with the Soul Crystal for a second or two before gently slotting the crystal into the slot.

The crystal fit with minimal effort, simply slotting into place in the perfectly shaped hole. Each Soul Crystal was exactly identical, so it didn't surprise Death that the crystal fit so easily.

"What's there to see in the Emerald Forest? It's just a forest and some old stone buildings, there's nothing else here." Weiss said, crossing her arms, still examining Death's every move with piercing blue eyes.

"And that is where your poor human perception fails you… Whether or not anyone has noticed this, it does not matter because it has simply been ignored. Your minds are set on something bigger, doing what is best for you, so you fail to notice these small things that slip by your minds, leaving not a trace but a vague memory of an imperfection in a stone half-buried underneath the dirt." Death ran his gloved hand over the intricate design of the stone podium, digging his fingers into the creases and cracks cemented in the stone.

"Listen," Weiss continued, "You don't expect us to believe that you are what you say you are, do you?"

"Of course not," Death spoke as the Soul Crystal started glowing a soft white, "Why would I expect you to believe in simple fairy tales if I have trouble believing in them myself?"

"Well, you never actually _told us _what you think you are." Weiss said

"Must I need to tell you?" Death stood to face the heiress, "Dig around in those vivid memories, recall the largest events in your life, the most painful events. I assure you will find me there." A click was heard as the podium began a full 360 degree rotation, straining against the other ancient stones that held it in place.

The full rotation took just under two minutes, straining and screeching against the stones. A doorway screeched open in the floor, a stone ladder leading down into a dark abyss of nothing, dust following the ladder down as the door twisted open in the floor.

"But don't revisit those memories just yet, we have a temple to visit, young ones."


	20. Chapter 15 - Temple Expedition, Part 2

**Posting this super early because of the major delays I had previously, I guess this is sort of an apology.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 15:<strong>

They descended the ladder one by one, Death leading down the old stone rungs, coated with a thin layer of moss, thick in places. The ladder extended for at least ten whole meters before abruptly ending over a void of pitch black darkness. He looked up to see the ladder had extended out of a hatch in what seemed to be a stone ceiling, the ladder now hanging precariously in the air, only supported by the rest of the ladder that was in turn supported against the stone walls of the downward leading hatch.

Seeing no alternate way into the antediluvian temple, he let his gloved hands slip from the stone ladder rungs, sending him plummeting into the darkness. Weiss, who had followed down the ladder after him, simply looked down in question as to why the insane poser decided to jump from the ladder, not a lick of worry on her face.

There was a brief crashing sound and a soft, echoing clatter before a shout came up, "You'll survive the drop!"

"Oh really?" came Weiss's response from the end of the ladder, "How high is the drop? How do we know you're not trying to get us killed?"

Death didn't return his voice to the heiress for a matter of moments, "…Descend as you see fit. The drop is only seventeen meters."

Each member of team RWBY, including Oobleck, descended using their own methods, most opting to make use of the various podiums and pillars that stretched laterally and seemingly forever through the darkness that the open room provided. Sight seemed to be a major issue in the temple, Death only able to see about eight feet ahead of him at most. Regardless of the sight issue, Death pressed ahead, pulling the layout of the temple - which he had very intricately mapped the last time he had been forced to take mortal measures - from his mind, following his mind as best he could to what he presumed would be the Stone of Heroes.

He set off without the others, only gesturing for Weiss to follow. A small amount of bickering was heard before Weiss ran in the way Death had disappeared, closely pursued by several other footsteps, and only to be outpaced by Oobleck who joined Death as he walked ahead into the darkness.

Death could feel his strength draining, like his vitality was slowly slipping from his grasp. He was not very pleased to acknowledge the fact that the Strange Folk still wanted him away from their precious temple.

"My, how wonderful this is!" Oobleck started, sipping from his thermos, "I hadn't been even slightly aware of this place's existence!"

"As I said before, you are all misguided, overlooking the smallest things." Death replied

"I'm sure you will enlighten me with some knowledge of this place, yes?"

"Not yet… You seem to be taking my… heritage rather calmly."

"Why, of course! I proposed that the chances of you being who you are were absolutely absurd! Yet Ozpin provided proof leading me to believe the… most unlikely explanations."

"Proof?" Death questioned but spoke again before Oobleck could return an answer, "Never min d." Whatever 'proof' Ozpin had gathered was most likely no more that video evidence that matched a few dusty old books he had laying around.

Death ceased his advance when he eyed an imperfection in the stone flooring, a star shaped section that stuck out of the ground, ceasing at the height of Death's ankle. The star was a typical five-pointed star and had names engraved on each of the five tips, names Death's mind refused to recognised, yet he could recall having heard all the names somewhere before. This was what the Strange Folk called the Stone of Heroes, a bland name indeed, but a monument to the five greatest heroes of the civilisation.

_Drifter Hallo_

_Hollow Easer_

_Turia Veleria_

_Bastian Harland_

_Aeliana Abelia_

Death's mind still refused to recognise the names, so he simply ignored them, deciding to move on to the next order of business: Lighting.

Majority of the temple was lit by fire, mostly just to hide the Strange Folk technological superiority from any unlikely outsiders who may have happened to wonder in to the temple uninvited. Suspecting that the strange fires would have been snuffed, Death brought a lighter along on the trip, relieving Miss Goodwitch's office of the device.

He quickly found the wall-mounted torches and lit as many as he could, spanning the longest length of near half an hour. The chamber was huge, the size of Beacon if not larger and the torches burnt abnormally bright, illuminating the entire chamber. Yet that was simply the main chamber, the remainder of the temple spanned at least the entire distance of the Emerald Forest, most undoubtedly dwarfing the poor forest in size aspects. Countless small passageways led to smaller sections of the temple, each only sizeable enough for two people to walk side by side, and even then the small passageways would find a way to give claustrophobic's nightmares.

The main chamber still managed to stretch up fairly high, multiple colossal support pillars to sustain the integrity of the stone ceiling and earth above them. The only thing off about the temple was the fact it had an entrance on the surface. Death knew of no Strange Folk who lived today, let alone anyone who would construct a surface entrance to the temple. The original entrance was indeed connected through the ceiling and onto the surface, yet the old ruins had never existed those thousands of years ago, nor was Death aware of their construction during that time period.

He shrugged off the abnormality and continued on through one of the small passages, gesturing for the others to follow him through - which they did, an uneasy feeling about the hollowed out chamber that disturbed their bodies to their bones.

The passage stretched on for about a minute before opening up to another large room, yet the flooring had been replaced with a large walkway and a great deal of water surrounding it. A great stone arc stretched over the middle of the walkway giving the room a more aesthetic look about it. The water lay calmly about the walkway and was undisturbed, not even the odd ripple to disturb it.

Resting against the walls to the side were a quartet of humanoid stone statues, doubling the size of the average man. The statues were designed to seem as if they were wearing a sort of armour, triangular pauldrons that stuck out like spears and gauntlets that doubled the thickness of their arms. Blades protruded from their gauntlets, seeming to replace their hands. Their legs were thick and bulky and their chestplates bore intricate designs engraved into them. Helmets sat in place of their heads, a visor-looking section stretching in a thin rectangular strip from top to bottom accompanied by a pair of wings that protruded from each side of the helmets where the ears would normally be located on a human head.

Each of the four statues situated themselves on the further side of the walkway, past the stone arc and each standing rigidly with their bladed arms folded over their chests, posing as guards, if anything but statues.

Death lowered himself so that he sat on the stone walkway, scooping up a loose stone pebble as he did so. He dropped the pebble into the murky water and was met with an unsatisfactory hiss as the pebble disintegrated on contact with the water. He tilted his head and considered informing the others of this hazard, yet he decided against it as he still wanted to test the girls' knowledge and sense. He got part of his answer when he turned to see all four of them had now crossed the first half of the bridge, walking under the walkway and onto the deadly side of the bridge. Big mistake on their part. Good thing Oobleck was still on the first half.

Blue lights flickered to life on the stone arc and a blue energy fizzled and crackled through the air, soon forming a solid wall of blue that span the entire length of the chamber, separating the two halves of the bridge and blocking any transportation between the two halves.

Oobleck was the first to react, poking and prodding at the transparent blue wall and watching his finger slip through the barrier. Eventually, he decided it be best to walk through the barrier, slipping through rather easily.

Death stood at the barrier, raising a hand to place on the barrier but only recoiling when a sharp shock was sent through his body. Yang, on the other side, tried doing the same, her hand resting solidly on the blue barrier, "What the hell is this?" She tried to walk through but found herself unable to do so, the blue barrier acting as a solid blue wall.

"It seems to be a one way barrier…" Death started, "For mortals… how irritating." He raised his hand to contact the barrier again but was forced to recoil when that same pain coursed through his body.

"It seems I must find an alternate route…" Death said, turning heel and returning the way they entered, "Best of luck with the Guardians." Before they knew it, Death was gone and all was quiet.

"Guardians?" Ruby questioned, seemingly to herself as she had no answer returned to her.

Oobleck looked to the girls and then quickly sped off, shouting, "Come along, we must find our way out of here!" just as he left.

Team RWBY shrugged and set about following Oobleck through the second small passageway, hoping to catch up to him before he sped off to far. However, something caught Blake's eye, prompting the team to stop and stare at what Blake stared so intently at.

"I… I think it… moved." The Cat faunus uttered, staring at one of the four statues that stood against the stone walls. The statues shifted again and a loud crash was heard as the stone door to the small passageway fell shut, sealing them in the room. Once more, the statues shifted, small pieces of rubble and loose stones slipping off the statues and into the water, eliciting a savage hissing from the water.

Smaller stone walkways extended from the bases of the statues, connecting them up to the main walkway as the statues shifted again, this time more violently. The statues finally jerked to life, lowering their arms to their sides and stepping down onto the small walkways that had extended from the bases of the statues. They slowly advanced forward, heavy steps shaking the ground beneath them.

The statues stopped just as they stepped onto the main walkway, standing rigid and still once more as if they had returned to being inanimate. They remained this way for a short moment until they would shift again, stepping forth and facing team RWBY as if forming a wall on either side of the walkway to stop them from moving away, even though their escape was already blocked wither way.

"I guess these are the Guardians…" Yang chuckled nervously as she readied herself into a fighting stance.

"Why did we even agree to go on a 'trip' with that… that thing!" Weiss scoffed, only to be silenced by Blake's words.

"I think we have bigger things to worry about…" She said, readying Gambol Shroud as Ruby and Weiss readied their respected weapons.

The statues shifted again, varying their positions and switching to a fighting stance, one foot ahead with a bladed arm crossing the chest and their second blade facing its opponents lengthways. The statues were slightly bent forward, ready to fight.

And the statues moved first.

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><p><strong>Please leave feedback in reviews or PMs, thanks.<strong>


	21. Chapter 16 - Temple Expedition, Part 3

**UPDATE: Chapters have been named**

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><p><strong>Chapter 16:<strong>

"Gods be damned I knew this idea was absurd!"

Two heavily armoured figures shifted through the halls of the Strange Folk temple with a surprising amount of agility, considering the bulkiness of the armour they were wearing. Their armour bared similar looks to the appearance of the statues that team RWBY had found themselves troubled with, only bearing more intricate and fancy looking designs. Another addition was the pair of large gas tanks they wore on their backs - pipes snaking from the top of the tanks and into the back of their helmets - and also the fact that their hands were not replaced, the blade instead extending out beneath their metal plated right hand and a futuristic-looking pistol in their left.

"It was accidental!" Shouted the first of the armoured men in reply to the other, his voice muffled by the helmet over his head, "That wasn't meant to happen!"

"But it _did_!" The second figure's tone turned fierce, his voice also muffled, "And now _we _are tasked with dealing with this abomination!"

"We have no chance against that! It is impossible for two of us to take down that _thing_!" The two figures came to the main chamber of the temple, but something was different.

The torches were lit. And they didn't light them.

The first figure growled, "We have intruders…" He snorted, his blade readied, a thin blue coating overcoming the blade.

"Humans?" the second man questioned

"Who else." He didn't state his reply in a questioning tone, instead bearing an aggressive tone with venom tipped words.

* * *

><p>Death flanked through multiple narrow passageways, trying to find his way to the storage chambers. He was rather unsatisfied to find out that the layout of the various temple passageways had changed considerably. He expected as much, but still found himself unpleased with the change in layout.<p>

The storage chambers would hold something that peaked his interest greatly, though it would mean veering from his originally mapped plan. He was willing to take a detour every now and then - be that detour large or small – and would occasionally twist his path when something intriguing sprouted up in his mind.

His mind had only now decided to bring up the memory of a certain… weapon, one that clung to his mind and refused to release it when it made itself present in his thoughts. The last he saw of the blade, the Strange Folk tossed it away into a crate in one of the smaller storage rooms that lay within the temple, leaving the blade to dull and rot away in some forsaken crate amongst an army of similarly unmoving metal boxes.

The Reaper would spend the full length of precisely eighteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds searching for that room before he finally wandered upon it. His satisfaction was short-lived though, as he failed to discover what he had been in search of. He dismissed the shame in being unable to find the blade and instead focused his mind on the unsettling shifting of the temple stones beneath his feet.

Ever since team RWBY accidentally locked themselves behind the energy barrier, Death could always feel the strange presence of the unsettled stone walls and floors around him, almost as if they each had a conscience, as if they were calling out to him or reaching for him with invisible hands. He would hate to admit it, but he was slightly unnerved by the odd presence of the stones, even more so when he felt so weakened.

It was as if the whole temple had come alive as soon as that energy barrier activated. But this was not a happy, joyous life, this was a pained and aged life, a life that had seen too much for any mind. He felt the presence of the temple as it called out to him in an unheard voice… and it sounded like it was begging, begging to be put to rest, just like The Messenger had begged for in that same unheard voice.

Whatever was going on, it was new and Death didn't like it at all. Whatever was happening to Ruby Rose and her posse of fighting feminine friends, it was about to get so much worse. Hell, Death might even find the end of his own dejected existence in such a newly unknown place.

* * *

><p>The temple shook and loose stones fell free, raining a storm of small pebbles upon team RWBY's head as they fought decisively against the Guardians of the temple.<p>

Yang Xiao Long was getting the upper hand on her opposing statue, her explosive projectiles proving to be more effective than the bladed assaults driven by her fellow teammates. The Guardian she was faced with had trouble keeping up with the girl, the blonde's movements proving too quick to counter or block effectively. Furthermore, her explosive weaponry was staggering the stone Guardian, reducing its guard to near to nothing as it was continuously pounded with explosive attacks. The statue finally got a chance to regroup when the girl halted her attacks to inform her teammates about the Guardians' apparent weakness.

"Their weakness is explosions!" She yelled, ducking to avoid a slow strike from one of the Guardian's stone blades, "This one can barely fight back!"

"We don't have any explosives!" Weiss roared back over the constant clatter of metal against stone, their weapons barely chipping away at whatever rock the statues were made out of.

Weiss, on the other hand, was having an unpleasant experience during her battle. Whilst she showed clear expertise in manoeuvring about the immense stone Guardian, she was always caught out by fast, precise attacks the Guardian would retaliate with at precisely the perfect time.

Weiss Schnee had some experience fighting large, lumbering opponents, her final combat examination before Beacon pitting her against an oversized suit of armour. Yet she had issues fighting what seemed to be an almost identical opponent , only appearing to be slightly smaller in size and wielding dual blades that seemed to be part of the statue. Upon further examination, the Guardian was a great deal more nimble than the armour had been, though barely moving to dodge attacks and only showing ludicrous amounts of speed whenever it attacked, and that was only on rare intervals.

The Guardian showed to struggle more against Weiss than the others did with Ruby and Blake, choosing only opportune moments to counter Weiss's fancy acrobatic-like combat style. The heiress eventually made optimal use of her limited supply of ice dust, freezing the Guardian's lower limbs and attacking hastily, though she had trouble isolating and freezing the statue's arms.

* * *

><p>Ruby Rose was getting swatted about like a fly, her high-speed attacks being intercepted by sizable stone blades that dwarfed her entire body or even just getting sidestepped when she had the perfect attack lined up.<p>

Ruby much preferred fighting against multiple smaller enemies rather than just one large brute of an opponent that outranked her in both strength and size (by a significant amount, the Guardian standing at nearly three times her height and width). The only larger enemy she could recall facing was the Nevermore during initiation, but that was a one versus four situation whilst this was four versus four. Sure, she may have delivered the finishing blow, but decapitating that Nevermore would have been impossible without the assistance of those who she now called teammates.

In the current situation, she was dealing with an opponent more agile and better-sized than the giant Grimm Nevermore and better versed in melee combat in a very limited space. Blake and Weiss could rely on their semblances to bounce around the stone giants, but Ruby only had her speed and a gun-scythe to face her opponent with, only able to use the limited space that the walkway provided. There was no way she would survive another minuet against this thing.

* * *

><p>Blake Belladonna was certainly having her own issues when facing the Guardian. Her agility and semblance seemed to confuse the stone Guardian, the stone brute constantly searching for the defiler and repeatedly attacking mere clones of its target.<p>

Much like Weiss, Blake was well versed in fighting larger opponents, remembering the fight she and Adam had with the Spider Droid. This opponent was very different to the robotic spider though, the Guardian soon switching its attacks from slow, lumbering, and powerful strikes to more precise swings and jabs with its stone blades, though still barely able to catch the cat-girl before she darted away and only catching her on rare occasions.

Regardless of her combat prowess over the stone Guardian, the statue never seemed to fall, stagger, or even show any signs of being hurt or damaged in the slightest.

Realising that this battle was going nowhere, Blake searched for other options as she nimbly evaded the constant swings of her opposing Guardian. Even Yang was starting to have issues with her Guardian, the stone statue simply refusing to go down as Yang grew tired and her attacks began to seem sloppy, a thing very uncommon for the blonde brawler. Perhaps it was the fact the expedition had run _past_ midnight and was most probably heading through to 1:00am.

Blake thought back to when Death had curiously dropped a small rock into the murky water around them and she had watched, diverting her attention from her teammates and to the abnormal man whom they had agreed on a field trip with. She remembered her sensitive hearing picking up on the harsh sizzling that sounded when the stone touched the water and she remembered watching the stone quickly sink into the greyish water, soon disappearing entirely from view.

"The water!" She yelled to her teammates as she continued evading the countless attacks from the stone guardian, "Push them into the water!"

Yang was the first to act upon the faunus girl's advice, finding a new, invigorating energy within herself as she pushed her larger opponent towards the water's edge with a successive chain of explosive shotgun shells, each one shifting the Guardian gradually closer to the water's edge. As the stone Guardian set a rocky foot in the murky water, it quickly retracted its lower limb, staggering forth and almost falling into the blonde brawler as it toppled forward in what seemed to be anger.

The Guardian swung wildly at Yang, but it's now sloppy attacks were easily evaded by the blonde girl. It tried desperately to land a hit on its opponent, as if it knew the danger the murky water posed to it. The Guardian's foot quickly disappeared, devoured by the hungry grey waters, still proceeding to chew away at the colossal statue. Soon there was nothing left of the statue but a murky grey residue that took its place where the statue had lay as it shrivelled away into nothing.

Yang shrugged her shoulders and moved on to help her sister.

The rest of team RWBY tried their best to follow Yang's lead and push the statues into the water, but to no avail.

Upon catching the words of Blake Belladonna, the girl's opponent shifted its head to sight the murky, grey water next to the walkway before continuing its attack on Blake, though this time it seemed more cautious and even faster whilst reducing the amount of attacks it decided to throw. Blake tried with all her might to stagger the stone colossus, but whatever she tried the statue refused to budge. Her blade hit the stone countless times, but each time the stone remained unscathed.

The Guardian threw a horizontal attack, followed by a vertical attack with its second blade, the second attack catching the faunus girl off guard and throwing her against the ground. The Guardian aimed the tip of its stone blade for the girl as she lay in pain against the stone walkway, Blake only able to narrowly avoid the tip as it came crashing down on the walkway where she lay just before manoeuvring away from the oncoming attack.

The searing pain that shot through her body was an obvious warning that her aura was no more. She surely wouldn't last another minute if the statue kept its new faster, more aggressive offense up.

Ruby Rose was on the verge of loss and, undoubtedly, death. She had thought about the strange man who had suddenly appeared in her life the first day she arrived at Beacon. She wondered who he really was and why he seemed so detached, only speaking to them when he was prompted to. She wondered why he showed more kindness towards her than her teammates.

She shouted out of her thoughts by the likes of her sister, Yang, who had somehow managed to back the Guardian Ruby was faced with into the water, where the stone statue simply stood in wait, waiting patiently for its petty existence to end.

That was when she saw Weiss.

* * *

><p>Here she was, Weiss Schnee, laying on her back, facing the expressionless helmet-like head of the stone statue that would be her death. The statue raised its blunt stone blade as it stood above her, towering over her with the height of a small building, the height of fear.<p>

There were many things she wished she could have done in her limited life. She wanted to apologise to her father and make herself noticeable in the stern man's eyes. She wanted to speak with her brother and sister, to actually _acknowledge _them rather than stay cooped up in her own world of troubles. So many things she wanted to do… none of them included dying though, as was the cruel fate she was faced with now. She didn't want to, her body revolted, but she eventually closed her eyes, lay back, and waited for the end to come. But it never did.

And her mind simply flooded with fear. Of what, she did not know.

When she next opened her eyes, two hefty hands were hauling her to her feet. She almost had too little time to jerk her legs to life and support herself before the hands released their iron grip on her shoulders. Confusion rattled her mind for a moment as she scanned the area around her, trying to compose what had been happening. She saw a familiar figure next to her, staring to her with golden eyes, skull painted mask twitching ever so slightly as the figure produced words from its covered mouth.

"Still shocked, Miss Schnee?" The figure spoke with muffled words, its shape still slightly blurred by her fearful mind, "Just like me, Miss Schnee… Just like me…." The figure shook itself off as it turned and walked to the water, crouching down to retrieve a curved blade from the water, flicking liquids from its edge and running a thumb over it.

Then she came to full realisation of who was talking to her… that… thing.

But then her vision was overcome with more colours - red, yellow, black - they all flooded her eyes and it almost hurt.

Her ears were flooded with words; she understood none of the sentences screamed at her, but only one calmly spoken sentence that spoke so quietly and calmly it overruled every other sound that flooded her eardrums.

"Not today, Miss Schnee. Your death is not today."

* * *

><p>He didn't even know why he was opting to save the children. What did they ever do for him?<p>

For some unforeseen reason, something urged him to help them. It was a stupid idea that his mind had conjured up, he wasn't even sure if he would survive in his weakened state. In the end, his body was unable to disobey his mind and he managed to pass by the door and hook famine into the neck of the Guardian that was about to bring Weiss's death about her, somehow finding the strength to stagger it back into the water, though failing to retrieve Famine as it did

Lucky thing that Death's signature brand metal was impervious to acidic substances.

Something about the temple had changed dramatically, and not just the layout. The Strange Folk temple disturbed him, ridiculed his presence, yet welcomed him in an uncomfortable manner. The temple wanted him to leave, he knew it.

Giving his decisions further thought, it would be good that he stopped the death of Weiss Schnee. He felt the presence of… something else in the temple. Something different, unlike anything he had felt before.

And it almost scared him, the power of this strange new presence. But he welcomed it with open arms, and he wanted it for himself. Yet he was not stupid, he needed to escape _without _leaving any traces of death behind for this new presence to discover. Worse yet, if this new presence was of Strange Folk origin then it was needless to say that a corpse would most displease the remnants of the Strange Folk and would bring about… unforeseen consequences for the world above.

Then he spoke to Weiss Schnee, once again riddling her with his cryptic language, yet speaking simple enough for the girl to decipher his message. He spoke to her a lot, he told her that she was something special.

Truth be told, she was. He wasn't stupid, The Messenger couldn't sneak anything by him.

But then he drew his attention to a more urgent issue…

Where did Blake go?

* * *

><p><strong>Now… I understand this isn't really a fight scene, and that is because I suck serious balls at writing <strong>_**actual **_**fight scenes. So that means you'll be stuck with this until I decide to finally pull my head out of my arse and write a proper battle.**


	22. Chapter 17 - Temple Expedition, Part 4

**Updates may get a little sporadic, becoming pretty preoccupied with other things. Sorry about the longer wait. I've just been really out of it the past few weeks or so, can't seem to write all that well.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 17:<strong>

The armoured man hoisted a still, black-coated, unconscious girl over his shoulder, continuing his movement through the hallway as he did so. His brother-in-arms, Silas Duran, followed close behind him, his body coated in a similarly bulky set of armour.

"Tell me, Praetor Acacius," Silas started, "Is our brother on the surface still maintaining our distraction?"

"Yes, Silas," Acacius Lament, bearing the title of 'Praetor', said, "Bastian is still maintaining our wall of crime. You need not worry, he is more than capable."

"Yes…" Silas started, "It simply helps to know that _something _is going right"

"Indeed," Acacius adjusted the unconscious faunus girl's position on his shoulder, "The time draws closer, my brother. Soon we shall begin the Final Crusade; the world will be ours again."

"Lest the angel of life and death be our downfall." Silas said

"The 'angel' has no power here," Acacius spat, "It is weak, just like the humans and faunus."

"I should hope so…"

* * *

><p>"How could you just <em>loose her!?<em>" Yang shouted against the angel, angering herself over her partner's sudden disappearance.

"I did not contribute to her disappearance, if that is what you mean to ask." Death replied calmly

"_You best not have!"_ Yang retorted, bringing her fists to bare in a fighting stance

The Reaper growled, "You are lucky it is I who stands before you. The other would not be so sparing of your filthy arrogance… Every time you throw you fists, you are cracked and halted. _Stop."_ The brawler ceased to let up her guard, still baring her fists in her occasional fighting stance.

He walked forward, passing by yang as if she wasn't even there, as if she were some transparent being whom he was blind to.

"Hey!" She shouted at Death, only glimpsing his back as he shifted away. His large figure just continued drifting away, soon disappearing into the passageway that led back to the main chamber.

Weiss Schnee, having only just recovered from her momentary shock, looked to Yang in disbelief. The blonde was still angered, though now struck with minor confusion.

"Are you just going to stand there?" The heiress said

"Huh?" Yang snapped back to her senses, turning to face Weiss

"_I said, _are you just going to stand there, or are we going to go find Blake?" Weiss reinstated her question, the blonde only replying with a simple, "I…" as she tried to recollect the recently passed events in her head.

"Yang…" Ruby popped up next to her sister, "Blake disappeared, remember?"

Yang shook her head, "But she's back now, right?"

Weiss sighed, "That was the docks incident. She's gone… _again_." Despite her friend disappearing into thin air inside an underground temple, Weiss Schnee seemed surprisingly calm as the situation progressed.

"But she wouldn't just disappear now, would she?" Ruby asked. Before any of the three could reply, a voice rushed through the temple, amplified by discreet speakers invisible to the human eye.

"Humans," The voice boomed, disturbing the ancient temple stones even further as they shook through the emitted noise, "Leave this temple. We will return your friend, you will not say a word of this place." The voice spoke with venom in its words, letters spat disgustedly from the man's muffled mouth.

An eerie silence was all that encompassed the temple from then on, the air shifting nervously as if fearing the voice's words.

"No?" The voice spoke once more, questioning tone in hand, "Then you will force my hand. The Reaper will dance in three more souls today." The voice licked at its own words, almost liking the situation that was about to present itself.

* * *

><p>"Continue the preparations. Watch the girl," Acacius said, letting his finger of the 'transmit' button of the device on the wall beside him, "I will rid the temple of its trespassers."<p>

Soon Acacius was gone, off into the depths of the temple where he entered a neon-white room, almost blinding levels of light reflecting off the plain white room, only the odd black streak breaking the constant sea of white that painted the entirety of the room.

The Strange Folk swiped his hand against the wall, a holographic panel materialising in the air about his hand. He tapped a few holographic buttons and a large grid appeared on the wall, outlining several 'Protocols'. His finger hovered over PROTOCOL: 49-A for a moment before he solidified his mental decision, resting his finger against the capitalised words.

The words flashed away, the holographic panel repeating a blaring white flash.

**PROTOCOL: 49-A INITIATED**

The screen flashed with additional words

**ERROR: CARGO BAY 1-A MALFUNCTION [CARGO BAY UNRESPONSIVE]**

**ERROR: CARGO BAY 2-A MALFUNCTION [CARGO BAY UNRESPONSIVE]**

**ERROR: CARGO BAY 3-A MALFUNCTION [CARGO BAY UNRESPONSIVE]**

**ERROR: CARGO BAY 1-B MALFUNCTION [CARGO BAY UNRESPONSIVE]**

**ERROR: CARGO BAY 2-B MALFUNCTION [CARGO BAY UNRESPONSIVE]**

**ERROR: CARGO BAY X ? ERROR**

**ALERT: CARGO BAY 3-B ACTIVE [CONTAINMENT RELEASED] EXTREME CAUTION IS ADVISED**

Acacius growled. One less-advanced Apparition had better be enough.

* * *

><p>"Uh… guys?" Yang looked over to her teammates as they shifted uncomfortably. The girl got no response, her teammates unusually un-talkative and concentrated ever since the room had started shifting. Ruby seemed as concentrated as Weiss, refusing to answer her sister's question whether she heard it or not.<p>

The walkway had extended the full width of the room, now creating a solid stone floor and covering the toxic waters. Smooth stone walls had layered themselves over the rigid, fancy designs of the previously uneven walls, now creating a completely smooth stone box – in which the remainder of team RWBY was now trapped.

The smooth stone walls coated over with a slick layer of white, hexagonal patterns appearing and leaving a collection of white in their wake. The room was dark but soon flashed with extraordinary brightness as a light blinked constantly in the centre of the now whitened room.

Armoured plating formed in the air, worn by a transparent mass of black smoke, a blinding white crystal centred in the smoke-figure's human-like chest. The armoured plates shifted about uncomfortably in the air as the black mass growled with harsh intent.

The armoured plates were worn loosely by the black mass, only gauntlets and pauldrons in its arms along with some greaves and a collection of smaller metal plates on its torso, leaving multiple small gaps between each sheet of armoured plate – through one of which, the blaring white light was visible.

The other three occupants of the room shielded their eyes from the light before they soon adjusted to it, though still finding it to be irritably bright.

"Do you think Blake will be okay?" Ruby questioned to her one present teammate and her sister as they watched the black mass of smoke form inside the silver armoured plates.

"I hope so." Yang and Weiss both grumbled in unison as they readied their weapons.

The Apparition was first to move, shifting forward in a ghostly walk as it hissed with murderous intent at its opponents, gauntlets moving forth to clamp down on their enemies. The creature was slow and lumbering, moving at extremely low speeds, resulting in an easy evasion from its initial attack, a measly grasp with its gauntlets towards Yang.

She swooped herself underneath the Apparition's plated arms and delivered a swift blow to its back with her Ember Celica. The attack was shrugged off as the Apparition continued to shift towards the next target in its sight, having completely ignored Yang when she moved from the creature's peripheral vision. Yang, however, found her feet hard to move. She looked down to see her feet covered in a thick black residue, a trail of which had been left behind by the Apparition as it ghosted its way forward.

The Apparition repeated its unhurried attack, this time towards the youngest of the group; Ruby Rose. The lumbering collection of armoured plates lunged forward, unsatisfied to find itself grabbing nothing but air as Ruby hopped back to avoid the slowed attack. The creature hissed once more.

"Uh, guys…" Yang said, struggling to free her feet from the odd black substance, "Help?" She struggled even more against the sticky residue, but to no avail.

Weiss came in for an attack, delivering several lateral slashes to the Apparition's side. The quick blows simply glanced off the armoured plates as the Apparition restarted its slow lumber towards Ruby Rose once more.

Yang simply stood cross-armed, unimpressed, "Sheesh, this guy is slow." The blonde wasn't expecting the thing to be _that _slow, especially after the statues displayed the extraordinary amount of agility they did.

In team RWBY's eyes (or what the three that were present at the time), this 'fight' wasn't even a fight at all, just them hitting a glob of black mist surrounded in armoured plating. None of them took the bright glowing crystal in the centre of the being, instead questioning why the creature was so slow, or, in Yang's case, pulling as many insults from her head as she could, often commenting on how big and stupid it was.

The Apparition let out a small gasp, somewhat resembling the inhalation of a human being, though adding a pained tone like it was desperately trying for air. The Apparition continued lumbering toward Ruby, the young girl simply sidestepping or ducking under the Apparition's blatant attacks – or just simple grasps, as it would seem.

Weiss's blade did nothing but elicit noise from the being's armour and it never seemed to change its style or movement. That was until it just simply vanished into the air.

"Where did it go?" Ruby questioned, seemingly to herself whilst Yang just remained in a bored looking stance, her arms still crossed as she failed to realise her feet were finally free. Weiss eventually pointed this out, calling the blonde a "dunce" to express her irritation. The three only had to wait a mere ten seconds before the Apparition made itself apparent again, appearing from one of the white-stained walls, this time with a large blade in hand.

The Apparition wielded the blade with a single gauntleted hand of black as it brought the sword down in an overhead arc, leaving only shattered white stones as its trio of enemies dodged the attack.

The Apparition became more lively, swinging the blade in multiple directions as it pressed against Yang, the blonde barely able to block its sudden speedy outburst, only managing to deny the blade three times before it contacted her skin.

Regularly, her aura would have protected her from a regular sword blow, refusing to leave even a single cut on her precious skin until it would succumb to repeated offense. This time, however, the sword seemed to ignore her aura to some extent, inflicting a soaring pain in the girl as she staggered back from the force of the creature's devastating blows. She felt something warm run across her body, but averted her eyes from examining it as she watched the being face off against Weiss and Ruby.

She suddenly felt a wave of fear flush over her. If the creature had managed to take her down so quickly, it would be able to kill her sister with greater ease. She tried to scream out to Ruby, but the words refused to be spoken. All she could do was watch in pain, and soon, in horror.

The Apparition easily parried Weiss's multiple blows, countering with a single leg sweep that took the girl off her feet, leaving her vulnerable. It felt a hitch in its back as a plate of metal unhinged itself from the Apparition's being, sending the metal sheet clattering to the floor. It spun to face its unseen adversary, only seeing the girl in red as she attempted to recover from her over-sped attack that had knocked her off her feet. The girl got off several shots, the bullets only harmlessly ricocheting off the creature's armour.

It raised its sword to deliver a finishing blow, but was once again halted when a small fire engulfed its side. Yang Xiao Long fired off several heated shots from her gauntlets, drawing the creature's attention away from the girl's sister. Then came attacks from its side as Weiss regained her footing and continued delivering blow after blow. It tried to parry each attack, but could only focus on one opponent, choosing to focus on Weiss as she was the closest.

Attacks were parried and Weiss got several blows off on the creature, using Myrtenaster's dust to give her an upper hand in the fight. An attack came that she could not block with her weapon, raising a glyph to counter the attack instead. The solid platform merely shattered into pieces as the Apparition drove its sword towards Weiss's abdomen, hissing in anger when it was only able to clip her side.

Nevertheless, the Apparition's attack was enough to elicit a scream of pain from the Schnee heiress and put her out of commission for the remainder of the battle as she tried to battle her bleeding wound.

Determined, Yang continued to fire useless pellets into the being's side, only proving to turn the foul creature's attention to her. She tried to scream out to Weiss, to Ruby, but only found herself able to utter a small wheeze and silenced words that would only travel to the stones next to her. She was relieved when the Apparition's advanced was stopped, a red blur managing to knock the sword from its grasp, managing to take a hand with it. The Apparition pressed on, not bothering to regard the fact it had just lost its weapon.

Another strike from Ruby drew the Apparition's attention as several more armour plates were torn, from its front this time around. When the girl came in for a third strike, the Apparition clamped its hand around her face as she sped by, Ruby managing to lose Crescent Rose in the sheer surprise of the being catching her mid-run. The being readied itself to pluck the poor girl's heart out.

* * *

><p>Weiss crawled desperately to Yang, trying her best to scream words to her teammate. She grasped the blonde's hand, pulling her ear closer to her mouth.<p>

"Th-the… crystal…" Weiss sputtered, still losing blood at a substantial rate from her gruesome wound.

* * *

><p>The Apparition slammed Ruby into the floor with all the hatred in the world. Muffled screams were all that was heard from the girl in red as the being's hand clasped around her mouth.<p>

* * *

><p>Yang conjured up the last of her strength, taking her best aim towards the glowing white crystal that centred itself in the middle of the transparent, black creature's torso.<p>

'_Let her rip'_

* * *

><p>The Apparition roared in pain, releasing an unconscious Ruby from its iron grip. Almost as quickly as it had all started, it ended. The Apparition dispersed, only leaving a heap of beaten metallic plates in its wake, the crystal that [previously sat in its hollow torso now resting atop the mound of metal.<p>

The illusion of the white room dissipated and the walls slipped away, revealing the room's original walls and leaving the remainder of team RWBY collapsed and beaten on the walkway.

Yang's entire body ached with a furious pain and blood stained her outfit.

Ruby lay beaten in an unconscious heap in the centre of the walkway.

And Weiss lay curdled as an unfamiliar pain coursed through her veins, blood finding a pool on the stone walkway she lay on. The last thing she saw was a blurred figure striding towards her before her vision faded to black

* * *

><p>"They are escaping" Silas scowled. The Strange Folk warrior readied his blade, but was halted by his companion.<p>

"No," Acacius denied, "We have their friend. They wouldn't think of speaking of this place before they have their precious acquaintance returned to them."

"And what of the Reaper?"

"The Reaper is forbidden from twisting fate in this world. He is not a threat."

"And if he chooses to be?"

"Then we will crush him like a bug between our fingers," Acacius clenched his fist, "We are superior."


	23. Chapter 18 - Hated Decisions

**A little shorter than usual, sorry about that.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 18:<strong>

A demon stalked through the darkened campus of Beacon academy, hostile eyes darting about for something, _anything_, to observe. It prowled about the night, dancing a sinister dance with the darkness about its figure.

Possessing a mortal would be a mistake; it would find its end at the hands of the angel of death very soon if it did so. The only thing the demon could do was stick around the angel and serve him well. Hopefully it would find some sort of activity about the angel that it could bother itself with.

But right now, the demon was simply wandering about in the darkness, its eye catching a lone straggler in the night.

Blonde boy, an Arc. An interaction had to be had, it was too tempting to not. Thus the demon winded its way about the darkness, stalking the Arc boy as he walked dejectedly through the night. The demon wondered why the boy seemed so down, it almost wanted to ask. But right now, it simply wanted to watch, to observe the descendant of those that had slaughtered so many of its kind.

Death's confusion grew tenfold as the angel questioned his body's actions. It seemed the roles had reversed, his body now becoming the commanding force and driving his mind against very own limbs. He found it strange how his body and mind had such radical decisions, never before had this happened.

He sighed, almost in annoyance, or perhaps anger, as he looked over Weiss Schnee's wounds. An unnervingly deep laceration in her side had managed to form an unsettlingly large pool of blood around her limp form.

His mind screamed orders, yelled at him, commanding his body to leave, yet it would not do so. His mind grew angered and his conscience soon butted into the psychological battle, reinforcing his body's decisions and telling him to help the girls. His conscience told him all the possible outcomes, and he didn't exactly want to see another apocalypse. He got lucky last time.

This glimpse into the future from his conscience served more of an annoyance, finding himself in a predicament where he would have to save the children to actually have an activity for the next few million or so years. Of course, he considered the fact that his conscience was tricking him, teasing him into doing what was considered "the right thing to do", but all those worries were tossed aside when haunting memories pained his mind, bringing back… unwanted events.

He let out a long exhale and looked over to Yang, laying in a bloodied, beaten pulp in no better condition than the heiress, just barely conscious.

Ruby was in a considerably better state, already managing to stir into consciousness, her head darting about to try and make out her surroundings.

The younger girl would tend to her sister. Weiss was a more prominent issue at the moment, loosing blood by the second as the pool of red about her grew wider in circumference.

The angel did his best to prevent the bleeding, but not all of it could be halted. He still scorned himself for helping them, but why else if not for his own benefit? He had been spoken to about the apocalypse before, but he never presumed it would arrive so soon. He wasn't ready for another apocalypse yet, and these girls would be the ones to stop it. He hoped so.

Ruby mourned over Yang's injuries, frantically rushing to comfort her sister and do whatever she could to soothe her wounds. The older girl just smiled as she faded in and out of consciousness, happy to see her sister.

It was no doubt at all that Ruby had at least a pair of broken ribs, if not dysfunctional limbs driven only by what little adrenaline was left in her, worry, and hurt. Death took a leisurely stroll to Yang's barely conscious form, hoisting the girl over his shoulder.

He took Weiss over his other shoulder, ignoring Ruby's endless demands and troubled questions, trembling voice. He took them to the main chamber, Ruby following with hopeless intent, and set them down beneath the drop-off from the suspended ladder, theorising about how he would get about this predicament.

His Soul Power was low **(19%)**, dropping rapidly in the presence of the Strange Folk devices. The only reasonable option was to **Blink **onto the ladder, though it would drop his power by a fair amount. A couple Grimm wouldn't be a problem to obtain, not at all.

He pulled Yang and Weiss over one shoulder, still unmoving, and travelled to the ladder, managing to obtain a solid grip on the ancient stone rungs before he could fall. The angel slotted the girls' bodies into a couple of the few small alcoves that lined the stone shaft.

He called down to Ruby as he held a hand out to her beneath him, "Jump."

The girl complied with relative trust, Death almost throwing the girl onto the ladder rungs below him before re-obtaining Weiss and Yang's unconscious forms and proceeding up the ladder.

The stone hatch at the top of the shaft had closed off, sealing the temple off from the outside world. A small oddly-shaped slot presented itself on one of the walls about the ladder and Death slid the Soul Crystal into it, finding a perfect fit just as the stones above him ground away. Various miniature stones were sent toppling down the shaft, landing inaudibly in the hollowed main chamber of the Strange Folk temple below them. Ruby ceased to speak, fawning over her sister and Weiss' safety through small, quiet mumbles that Death had trouble making out.

Soon enough, moonlight pierced the thin layer of darkness about the ladder and illuminated the entire shaft, though still refraining from lighting the darkness of the temple that lay below the surface of the dirt.

As expected, Death emerged from the temple with a multitude of weaponry threatening him, though they were at the hands of team JNPR, a rather surprising group of individuals to be held at gun and sword point at. They didn't look the part, though that made them no different from the rest of the children that resided in Beacon Academy. They still looked the part as kids.

He almost found it to be annoying being held at gunpoint by a hyperactive child and someone who pissed their pants almost as much as Death had seen babies regurgitate human fingers. **Yeah…**

He grumbled as he lay Weiss and Yang's motionless bodies down for a medical team to approach, taking immediate action. Ruby quickly emerged from the hole behind him, instantly running over to check on her sister, then on to Weiss once the medical team had assured her safety. Her face seemed to drop as one of the medics spoke to her, the man's colleagues frantically rushing to grab any piece of medical equipment in sight.

Death brushed off any loose pebbles from his outfit and proceeded over to team JNPR, the group of four still ceasing to lower their weapons as they spoke amongst themselves.

"Best make your mind up if you're going to shoot me." Death spoke once in earshot of the group, apparently conversing about what they should do in the current situation using hushed whispers and their leader, Jaune, using multiple non-existent hand gestures. The kid would never live up to his ancestors. That'd be a miracle if so.

"Where's Blake!?" Jaune quickly spurted out, his shield still raised in defence and his sword ready to strike, albeit a very sloppy strike.

"I'm afraid we managed to lose her after… certain events transpired." Death spoke, his words calm and seemingly uncaring.

"You just… lost her!?" Jaune began to raise his voice. Although he didn't really talk to Blake all that much, he still considered her a friend and his worry and anger was apparent in his voice.

"Rest assured we will re-obtain your friend. Patience is all that is needed to do so." Death replied calmly.

Death hadn't really bothered himself with JNPR much, their physical appearances seeming as bland and regular as the next group of kids. He didn't bother to familiarise himself with each of their personalities, their fighting styles, but he remembered their names clear as day, something he tended to do whenever he heard a new name from a new mouth.

He couldn't deny, though, that Pyrrha Nikos was certainly a gifted combatant for such a youthful age and generation. The angel had only seen her fight once or twice, yet that was enough to determine that she was easily one of the best of her age group. He had always found that her vivid-green eyes would often conflict with his own golden eyes whenever their gazes would cross on several rare occasions over the past few months.

"We don't really trust you." Pyrrha stated blandly, losing her usual chipper tone and adopting a more formal, serious way of voice.

It was only natural for JNPR to be suspicious. They rarely ever saw the Reaper about the school and whenever they managed to catch a glimpse of him he didn't always seem to portray himself as the friendly type. Not exactly shy or antisocial, more as though he was hiding something.

The teens still lacked Ozpin's briefing on whom the strange, tall man _actually was, _resulting in them maintaining a psychological wall between themselves and him. Even they found this odd, usually opting to be one of the more friendly teams in the first year, often socialising with those who were considered more antisocial or just any other people in general. There just seemed to be something terribly off-putting about his physical demeanour and just his presence in general.

"Then don't trust me." Death replied, leaning forward ever so slightly and crossing his golden eyes with the red-haired girl's own vivid-green eyes, "If you think I am dangerous, simply shoot me. Pull the trigger, I won't hold anything against you."

A long silenced ensued after Death's words, putting team JNPR into an uncomfortable position.

"Even I would shoot me, don't you think?" Death looked over to the medical team. They had made a decent amount of progress, deciding Weiss needed blood immediately, her blood type determined by the details supplied to them by Ozpin, no doubt.

The Reaper eventually resorted to twirling Famine about his hand whilst he waited for JNPR to take action.

Jaune Arc was the first of the four to lower his weapon, closely followed by Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie in exact unison, and then, although still slightly unsure, Pyrrha Nikos.

"Are we nervous?" Death seemed to tease Pyrrha on her hesitant actions. He received no reply, not even a change in the girl's physical attitude.

"Will that be all?" No reply, "Then I must be off."

He took their silence and swayed by the four, heading off through the woods to make an unscheduled meeting with a man about the trees, not too far off. He had an abundance of questions to spew from himself – well, maybe not that many, but those few were certainly important, if not just filler for an opportunity to converse with a man whom he felt always uncertain about.


	24. Chapter 19 - Hollowed Out Man

**A little shaky about this chapter, leave feedback if you wish to do so.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 19:<strong>

The Messenger stood with his body leaning just slightly over the cliff-face that overlooked a vast ocean of blue. Behind him lay a tombstone, engraved with the name 'Summer Rose'. He had no knowledge of this person, and felt nothing for them, nor did he bother familiarising himself with them. But he could vaguely remember the name 'Rose' – he was certain he had delivered belongings to some of them before. He never committed them to memory. Although, he would occasionally spot a young girl in red, sometimes accompanied by one in yellow, who would venture down from Vale to visit the gravestone and pay their respects.

He knew their names, Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, and would occasionally watch with severed interest as they would simply stand in remembrance of the fallen human. He would simply stand in the cover of the treeline, engulfed by the shadow that stalked him, and fixate his gaze on the girls as they stood unmoved by the wind, the petty air only managing to tamper with their clothing and, occasionally, their hair. They would occasionally speak to the stone, mostly just Ruby. She would talk to the stone like it was alive, filling it with her memories of the passing days. He almost felt sorrowful that she wouldn't just let go, wouldn't just accept the death of Summer Rose.

He held a small cylindrical object in his right hand, gloved in shiny, black leather, held out in front of him as the wind tampered with the long, black trench coat that he donned, extending down towards his knees and halting before reaching any further down. He flipped the cylindrical object, inspecting the intricate designs carved firmly into the object's silver structure. It fitted into his grasp perfectly as he clenched his fist, extending his arm out and over the baby-blue ocean. He fiddled around with the cylindrical object some more before returning it to one of several pockets inside his coat.

He reached his hand up to his gas mask, unscrewing the filter and replacing it with a new, fresh filter from a pouch on his belt, obscured by the thickness and length of his blackened coat. The gas mask mirrored the coat's colour, accompanied by a set of flattened and thinned silver hair that remained unaffected by the strengthened breeze that blew through the early morn. The only off-putting thing about that stained black mask was that it seemed to have melted into his head, his skin fusing with the rubber and metal that comprised the edges of the mask. A gruesome sight to say the least, though this was concealed to a certain extent by a few strands of silvery hair, though failing to completely conceal the edges where the mask joined his face.

One side was tattered to all hell, battered and broken showing only a paste of chipped blackness and a lacking eyepiece, only darkness in place of the long-gone glass eyepiece. One side showed good and one showed horror and darkness – a side to the mask that had seen better days.

He would simply stand staring out into the vast landscape of blue that followed the cliff he stood on for the next minute until a presence behind him took the attention of his mind. He did not turn to face the presence as it was one he had felt many a time before, though he had never expected this person to seek his company anymore.

The figure behind him simply stood and watched as The Messenger stared pointlessly ahead. He stood as The Messenger pulled a golden pocket watch from his coat, inspecting the time before slipping it back into his attire. The man then proceeded to walk backwards, retreating from the cliff-face whilst turning to face the figure behind him.

"Such a different choice of attire. Fits the modern society." The Messenger spoke as he turned to face Death.

"I am surprised you still remember my physical appearance. It has been millennia." Death replied, acknowledging the man's memory.

"Why wouldn't I remember the attire of the being I hope to face one day?" The Messenger said

"Perhaps it is because you may choose to face me any day you like." Death replied

"That is true, but these humans are fruitless and I would rather live to delay the apocalypse rather than bring about a second. There is no point of me wandering into the woods and submitting myself to the nearest living creature, hoping it would kill me. Tried that already, though."

"And you still separate yourself from your own kind?"

"I am no human. Humans age, humans die… I do not."

"Yet you still refrain from attempting to take your own life."

"Tried that too. Never worked. Just more pain to endure."

"A true shame." At least Death had the privilege of maintaining a purpose handed to him by God. At least he was able to retire. He was almost thankful for that.

A long silence endured for a time, the howling winds being the only sound serving to interfere with said silence.

"I could never guess why you came to speak with me. I understand your uneasiness about being such as myself, whatever I may be." The Messenger said, ushering Death's reason to be present at the current time from him.

"You don't like the apocalypse, I don't like the apocalypse… You are trying to save the ones who prevent it, I believe my being wants me to do the same."

"You are proposing a… collaboration of sorts?"

"In a way. I am saying that we share a common goal and we should work together to achieve this goal."

"I am already achieving my goal, so are you. Our alliance is already prominent."

"And yet you are getting nothing done when you have no physical contact with whom you work to save."

"I need no physical interaction with them."

"But if you did wouldn't that make it easier to achieve your goal."

"You are not twisting me; I will not fight by your side, even if you fight at all."

"You need not fight by my side, simply join Beacon. That is all I am prompting you to do… Without you being as close as you could be, your goal almost died last night."

"That is because you threw them into a temple with active Strange Folk Warriors, Guardians, and Apparitions."

"But had you been there, you could have prevented it all. I would have what I need and the fate of the world would have been delayed."

"I will be rejected, if not from the school board then from the students themselves. I am not a talker with those who serve as distractions."

"Perhaps you should become a talker. You have many years left on this world, and you are working towards extending that period even though you have no activities to free your boredom and pain."

"I may endure pain throughout the millennia, yet it is all to find a solution. I am not close, but I am working towards it."

"Ozpin may be willing to help y-"

"Ozpin is a fool." The Messenger counteracted Death's suggestion quickly, denying that Ozpin would be of any value to him or help him in any way, "We both know that."

"He may be a fool, but wiser than the rest. He would be willing to help."

"He wouldn't know where to start."

"But you would."

"And why would he even bother himself with me? He is surely occupied lecturing the future generation of idiots that will begin the next war."

"That he may be, yet the war can be prevented."

"The war is inevitable. I have seen their plots, their schemes. It all leads down deeper, farther below the surface. It is all planned. Once their plan is over, the Strange Folk will run them over and begin the apocalypse. That is why we must save the children."

"Then help me save them."

"_Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will guard the guards_** (themselves)** when our attention is pinpointed on a group of four children, when we are so misguided in that school of so called 'Warriors'...? Saviors..."

"_We_ will have to do that."

The Messenger's heavy breathing was easily audible as the howling violence of the winds died down, previously drowning out the constant muffled hisses of The Messenger's constant harsh breaths, in and out as he breathed filtered air through his mask.

"I will consider your offer, Reaper."

"Good. Now, moving onto similar matters concerning your notes to the heiress..."

"Warnings."

"What is there to be warned about?"

"You. Perhaps not anymore."

"What is there to be concerned about me?"

"Your expedition surely would've led to the death of those four if not you had intervened. One of them is now missing."

"I was unaware of Strange Folk warriors, I had believed they were long passed. To my knowledge, only one exists."

"Only one on the surface… and that Demon you keep around."

"What about that Demon?"

"Why would you trust a Demon?"

"It is bound to me and will be killed if it performs any actions against my liking."

"It will find a way about your binding."

"It is safe, I assure you."

Death waited patiently for The Messenger's reply, hoping that the conversation would end so he could eject himself from the man's eerie presence.

Death came to The Messenger with this proposal because he expected the assistance to be useful. Down in the mortal realm, Death was limited to his abilities, especially his stamina. The Messenger was an experienced fighter could easily match, if not best Death in combat in the mortal realm. He had just as much experience as the Reaper, being… whatever he was, and had been present on Earth, transferred to the starting husk of Remnant post-apocalypse, after the planet had been left in a state of disrepair and without any life at all.

Death, without a doubt, certainly had a tremendous amount of respect for The Messenger. He was a good being, helping where he could and hoping to delay another apocalypse, hating to see so much wasted life and the burning of such a young world.

"You will have my answer to your offer the first day of Beacon's second Semester. I will be there, or I will not."

"And your name?"

"Hollow. Just Hollow."

"Good to know." Death smiled as he turned heel as ventured back through the forest, back towards Beacon Academy where he would reside for the day and hope to not be bothered by anyone. It would be good to know that he had someone on his side, even if that someone nerved him and chilled his thoughts ever so slightly.

Hollow grumbled slightly as he returned his gaze to the ocean and his body to the thinned edge of the cliff-face. His greenish-blue eyes shone out slightly from the tinted lenses of his gas mask, the colours tempted out by the now-rising sun as it illuminated the land. The sun shone bright, though Sylvan just stared into it, not feeling a thing.

He had taken the burden of becoming The Messenger upon himself in an attempt to find the remainder of his emotions, buried under a pile of rubble inside his mind. The Messenger had been an alias given to him by the few who saw him, the few who actually saw his attire, not just a lifeless shadow like Weiss Schnee did.

He slipped off his gloves, revealing hands covered in whitened bandages, a grim reminder of his pain at the hands of fire. Fire was always the worst. It stretched to the point where it bit like the cold and chilled his bones, all the while burning away his toleration for life.

He kept a gun for the corrupted, a bullet to put to rest the sins of each and every corrupted mortal being in this world. He had done the same for the previous world, killing whomever he donned as 'corrupted' and slipping by any authorities like a shadow, merely disappearing into the darkness. The darkness of day or night, each was the same for him.

Although murder for the sake of reliving boredom was not something he didn't consider doing, nor something he avoided in the slightest. He knew what it was like to get that feeling, that relief. He understood it.

Fighting was not something he enjoyed, yet he did condone it. Everything simply balanced out with war and death. Everyone lives their life, and they pass on into death, the Reaper slipping in to steal away their soul from the world.

He would consider Death's suggestion for the weeks to come, weighing out advantages and disadvantages. The students would give him a rough time, though he would simply discipline them for doing so. And if Death wasn't willing to step into the arena to show the children the true lengths of a seasoned warrior, then he would. It was somebody's place to set an example for the students and teachers alike.

He was not limited, not like Death. He almost scorned the arrogance of the children, so he would set them in their places.

If he accepted the offer laid out by Death, that is.


	25. Chapter 20 - Guilt

**Chapter 20:**

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing."

"Why are you so different?"

"Only on the outside."

"Why are you doing this to us?"

"I am helping you."

"Why did you send us in there?"

"I did not send you in there, you followed me in."

"Why did you leave us?"

"You had accomplished my goal."

"But why did you come back?"

"…"

"Why?"

"This conversation has ended." Death stood to leave one of the Valian Hospital's many visitor rooms, ceasing to answer Ruby Rose's final question.

Whether it was because he didn't want to or because he couldn't, Ruby was unsure of.

Death had decided to visit the hospital and those he had hospitalised, though it was against his minds desires – his mind deciding he should just keep away from them rather than cause a stir with Ruby, who was, undoubtedly, present at the hospital as a result of her sister and teammate's incapacitation.

The room was quiet, the citizens of Vale refusing to even be injured, let alone die. It explained – to some extent - the overly lack of deaths in the mortal realm.

"Why is Blake gone!?" Ruby snapped, rising to her feet in a rage fuelled by her past decisions, when she had thrown two of her teammates to Death, only to have them return near their demise – when she had decided to throw her team _and _herself into Death's hands once more, only to encounter the same results as previously.

Death stopped mid-stride. His chest heaved in and out as he inhaled sharply and exhaled softly. He slowly turned back, angling his body towards Ruby, though refusing to face her fully and only looking off to the side of the young girl as he contemplated his answer. The answer was a very short and simple one.

"Because you were dumb enough to listen to me." The Reaper took his leave, heavy footsteps against tiled floors as he navigated his way through the hospital's overly complex layout and design, hoping to rid himself of the place before having to answer more pained questions that would only dig his grave deeper.

Night fell once more within a matter of hours, Ruby Rose remaining at the side of her older sister and the heiress after being called through mere moments after Death's departure. She wept at her sister's side as she looked the unconscious girl over.

She was covered in a multitude of whitened bandages, each serving to cover a collection of cuts or several deep lacerations. Despite her current state, the girl looked quite peaceful in her unconscious rest, and that dulled Ruby's worry to some extent, but didn't completely rid the younger girl of her worried feelings.

Weiss, on the other hand, had just been wheeled into the room after surgery a matter of minutes ago, the heiress seemingly in a better physical state than Yang was currently enduring. Though that was all down to looks.

Weiss's surgery consisted of the paining task of having to sow her entire side back together as well as an immediate and constant blood transfusion - again. The doctors who wheeled her in were endorsed in an already-running conversation from before they had entered the room, throwing about theories about what caused the damage to her side. One doctor seemed settled on the fact that it was a sword that caused the damage whilst the other was constantly revolting against this idea, saying that there was no way a sword would be able to do that much damage to someone with an active aura. Eventually, the doctors quietened down, wrapping up their conversation and quietly removing themselves from the ward to attend to other matters.

Ruby had immediately rushed to Weiss's side, disappointed, perhaps even angry, to find out that she was unconscious, much like her sister was. She would be seated between Yang and Weiss for the remainder of the night, mourning over the injuries of Yang and Weiss, but, more importantly, the disappearance of Blake. It was hard for her to believe that she could just _disappear_ so simply and quickly without anybody realising. She felt an overwhelming flood of guilt, remembering once more that _she _was the one who urged them along onto the trip.

She wanted to apologise, to make everything better, to bring Blake back. But she couldn't do that, not now.

But she would be damned if she didn't find a way to get her teammate – her friend – back to them, whether she did it alone or with help. Though she wasn't going to let Weiss or Yang take the blame, or accept their help. She felt she needed to fix this by herself, or with another, just as long as she didn't put her friends in danger again.

As Ruby sat in that ward, feelings of guilt and worry flooding her mind, she failed to realise the silhouetted figure that stood watching her, against the wall of the room.

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><p>Hollow – The Messenger – stood as a hollowed out silhouette against a white wall, barely noticeable to any passing staff, or even Ruby herself. Perhaps if she concentrated enough, she might've just been able to spot the empty man that wandered the room.<p>

Being a worthless nobody, a simpleton to the mortal eye, he found it fitting. People would barely notice him and simply walk by. No need to hide.

He would stand and watch the three girls throughout the night, contemplating his pained life and the contemptuous offer conjured up by the Reaper.

* * *

><p>"So…" Death started, "To reinstate… There was a back door?"<p>

"Why of course!" replied a hyperactive professor, having appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Yet you fail to remember where it took you?"

"Quite right, Mr Death!"

The Reaper simply sighed, "It still confuses me as to why they let you slip by so easily. But I was sure the temple only had two entrances, and the first should be buried underground if my memory serves."

"I will be sure to come to you when I have an explanation available, but for now I must be off! I have important business to attend to!" The green-haired professor sped off, still holding his thermos flask in hand and with an attitude as if nothing had ever happened. But of course, he was still unaware that one of the students was missing.

And that brought Death to Ozpin. Explaining to the headmaster that one of his students was lost, probably near death, would be an issue. Fighting the professor wouldn't be an option; his abilities versing Death's extremely limited power and strength at this time would surely lead to the Reaper's loss. The Reaper would surely receive a harsh reception by not only Ozpin, but whomever else would happen to be present too. Whether or not Ozpin would remain calm or snap was still undecided.

And a harsh reception he would receive, though at the words of Glynda Goodwitch, and not Ozpin himself.

"I told you he couldn't be trusted!" Glynda yelled at her superior, the man remaining surprisingly calm throughout the situation, "Why would you even remotely trust this man if he claims to be something that vile?!"

"Rest assured, your student is not dead. Not yet." Death made a small attempt to reassure the professor, though he was quite aware that it would just escalate the situation to a more volatile point.

"Don't try and reassure me! You lost one of my students!"

"With all due respect, you do not hold ownership over the children as you would over something you may _actually_ own legal rights to."

"Don't try and take that tone with me!"

"Glynda!" Ozpin adopted a harsh, annoyed tone as he silenced Goodwitch. Ozpin looked over to Death, prompting him to explain further.

"She was lost in the temple, as you would expect. Though I am afraid that I will not hold the blame to myself. After all, it was you, Ozpin, who flagged me ahead and approved of the expedition."

He could see Glynda growing increasingly agitated out of the corner of his eye, the woman nearly fuming with irritation and anger.

Death continued, "I trust you shall find a way to find the girl. It would not be my place to do so, but if it were to reach within my boundaries and purpose for being present in this realm, I would not hesitate to take the burden upon myself and deliver the child into your hands." A small lie to cover his intentions, "Although I do believe I stand on shaky grounds entrusting you with any of these children's protection."

Ozpin spoke, "And would it be wrong to question why you worry about the students' wellbeing? I have been led to believe that you are here for your own benefits, and your own only."

"And that would be true," Death replied, "Though the wellbeing of certain students does stretch within my personal interests.

"And as for your benefit from the previous expedition," Death produced the Soul Crystal from his pocket, "I suppose you can have these two." Ulius and Amsterdam were indeed still contained within the Soul Crystal, but Death would not miss them. True, he did still hold a deal with Ulius, but the Reaper isn't always so kind. The boy had gotten to see his sister, and that was enough for the Reaper to be contempt with. In his mind, the deal was fulfilled, though the time Ulius would be in Death's service was severely cut, but he couldn't care in the slightest. He had no use for the two anymore. He could analyse his own battles, make his own weapons. No need to rely on the dead.

He tossed the Soul Crystal onto the floor ahead of him, just before Ozpin's desk as he took his leave from the room, but he stopped just before he reached the elevator and rotated to face Ozpin and Glynda once more.

"One more thing," he started, a small smile growing on his covered lips, "Expect a visitor within the coming weeks… Just a fair warning." At that, the Reaper departed, the elevator doors sliding closed behind him and Glynda immediately erupting into barely decipherable infuriated speech, once again revolving around the subject of trust speculating about Death.

* * *

><p>A Demon smiled and hissed as it weaved its way through the shadows surrounding the day, watching intently as it examined the students of Beacon Academy go about their daily activities. The campus was fairly quieter than most days, over half of the academy's students departing from the complex to visit family or go about other business. After all, the first semester <em>had<em> just ended.

The Demon could pull the names of some of the students from its day-to-day examinations; Pyrrha Nikos, _Jaune Arc_, Ruby Rose, though the last one seemed visibly depressed as she conversed with the former two. The Demon wanted to hear the conversation, curiosity striking its devilish mind as it travelled swiftly across the campus and slipping into audible range of the conversation, closely following the group as they trekked across open grounds.

The young one, Ruby Rose, she spoke of the incident that had come about the past day, the temple expedition lead by Death himself. She spoke about the events that had transpired that night and how she felt worried and guilty. The other two tried to hide the plain look on their faces, having already heard this story the previous day when they had paid a visit to the Vale hospital to check up on their friends.

The Demon never really understood the concept of having a friend, nor did it strive to understand that concept at all, not like Death had considered. All it understood about the others of its species were their leaders and names, not even their purposes, yet that was something unimportant. All of that was unimportant presently.

Right now, the Demon wanted to focus on studying these mortals, studying them for the day when Death would leave the mortal realm, abolish his mortal form, and the Demon would be free to roam Remnant to its own will.

A day of excitement.


	26. Chapter 21 - Convergence

**You: **Hey, look! Douchebag McGee finally decided to get off his ass and write another chapter. Boy, his butt must be sore from sitting down for nearly two consecutive months!

**But I'm sure you're not here to complain (its fine if you are), so let's just get back into it.**

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><p><strong>Let's do another weapon list:<strong>

**Famine and Conquest: **Dual wield twin sickles

**Dead Man's Wail: **Powerful long barrel rifle, Soul Power as ammunition

**Mrtyu: **Dual claws (Gauntlet extensions)

**Harvester:** Death's scythe

**Angel of The Abyss: **Longsword (One handed)

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><p><span><strong>Review Responses:<strong>

**Lord Asmodeus: **There is simply too much to factor in without completely ruining the basis of the story. Apologies if it seems illegitimate.

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><p><span><strong>Edit: Added a line break after the first couple paragraphs.<strong>

**Chapter 21:**

Although most baseball bats are traditionally wooden, aluminium bats were usually the preferred blunt weapon when it comes to murder; a sturdy weapon that crushes bone with metallic force when swung correctly and wielded by a good swinger. A preferred weapon would usually last quite some time, at least a couple years, but Hollow would always find himself replacing his weaponry. His metal bat had just been renewed at a local store in downtown Vale, and nobody would suspect anything. The law enforcement wasn't up to par.

His pistol was a special case, never having to be replaced due to its superior design, even though it may have looked like a standard Type 64, it differed greatly from the standard weapon. He never found himself using it much though, always preferring to hear the sickening crack of bone under metal whenever he swung his arms.

He had to free his mind somehow.

* * *

><p>The fresh blood of the Grimm creatures began to steam up and evaporate from Death's clothing as he knelt down, nearing himself to the once living Deathstalker that now lay limp and lifeless at his feet. The fight had been incredibly gruelling, Angel of The Abyss serving as a mere annoyance for the creature, though that annoyance soon grew to be pain, and then, finally, the death of the creature.<p>

He took its heart, cut it open and threw it away; keeping only the creature's darkened blood and its withered soul. It fizzled and slowly dissipated, swelling into his gloved hand. He felt a small surge as the soul became one with his being, reinforcing his existence.

He swivelled his head from left to right, examining the small field of Grimm bodies as they slowly evaporated, leaving nothing but a flattened patch of grass from where they had previously lay – dead. No more than twenty Grimm corpses remained in existence and he began searching through the treeline surrounding the small clearing in the forest he was currently situating himself in. he could feel someone was watching, but had yet to determine who it was.

Each soul had different traits about them, some would even possess a lingering putrid smell that would be noticeable from at least fifty metres away. But Death had never learned to differ between each soul's distinct traits, nor had he bothered to familiarise himself with them and take them to memory, so that made it troublesome to identify any nearby souls who seemed to enjoy intruding on the Reaper's business.

Though this soul was something he didn't recognise in the slightest.

His golden eyes scanned the vivid treeline, piercing the veil of darkness in search for any bystanders. His eyes glared directly at the soul, though they failed to see any image. It couldn't be the Schnee girl or Xiao Long, they were both hospitalized, still a day or two from recovery – but the power of aura was not to be underestimated, as Death had learned through his years.

He felt hesitant to call out, hesitant to attract unwanted attention from whomever was watching. He felt the presence weaken, though it ceased to make any movement. He manifested his armour, along with Angel of The Abyss, and projected his voice.

"Hiding… will not solve anything." He rotated a full 360 degrees, scanning the treeline once more for no apparent reason, seeing as the soul was only fixated in one position. He eventually rounded his vision back to the strange presence through the trees.

"Step out from the woods." He spoke once more, his grip tightening on Angel of The Abyss. Nothing replied and his mind made the choice to venture towards the presence. His footsteps sounded loudly against the dry dirt and the greenery crunched beneath his boots.

He threw away the vines, revealing nothing but misplaced air lurking behind the treeline.

As odd as it sounded, perhaps he was becoming delusional. It was only safe to assume, knowing the most recent events had resulted in a significant change relating to his body and state of mind.

He grumbled in frustration as he banished Angel of The Abyss, feeling the odd presence had faded the instant he failed to locate it. He stepped slowly back into the clearing, the last of the Grimm bodies finally evaporating from their solid forms and dismissing themselves from the dull, green clearing.

Leaves often fluttered down from the treetops as autumn dawned, bringing a sea of irritating dead greenery. The days had grown colder and the nights longer and adopting a more persisting bite of frost. Of course, this had little to no effect on Death, him being as cold inside as he seemed to be outside, though it was undeniable that he had gained some sort of cursed warmth from spending time about these four girls; Rose, Schnee, Xiao Long, and Belladonna.

He almost felt the need to venture back into the temple just to scoop up the Belladonna girl and carry her home to her friends. It was true, she was part of rather important events doomed to occur in the near future, but was it all necessary to save her? Was it worth the risk?

The answer was no. Hollow would have his way and he would either save the girl or leave her, all from the shadows. There was no point in Death bothering himself with this matter if he was so sure that Hollow would go about doing it himself. It was only a matter of time before the man made his decision, and Death would surely abide, all for his own health.

The Reaper was snapped from his thoughts when something flooded his mind, an overwhelming presence, the presence of many, stretching desperately into the hundreds. They all moved quickly, all forming a circle around him, the central point. They covered the forest grounds quickly, growing closer and closer with each coming second.

At first, Death remained slightly startled by the sudden presence of so many souls in such a deadly forest. A few of the souls seemed to stop, their mortal presence simply vanishing and an ethereal presence replacing them. The remainder, somewhere over twenty, continued rushing forth, gathering in a small circular vicinity just behind the treeline of the small clearing Death was situated in. His head whipped around, his eyes looking through the darkness and into the eyes of fearful White Fang grunts. Well, some were fearful, most seemed overly confident.

They tried to conceal themselves behind the mass of shrubbery that formed the darkened treeline, but their foolery was nothing to the experienced eyes of the Reaper. They seemed to simply stand and wait for several moments, just simply sitting and staring at the abnormal being in the clearing before them. They held their weapons in solid hands, some quaking and fearful, and waited.

And then it came, though only a few souls bounding forth to face their foe as first, soon followed by their comrades into battle. Their feet battered the ground as their figures rushed forward, echoing out in a cry of awareness to the Reaper.

The first came from behind, blade raised overhead, only to lose his sword hand to the Reaper's own blade. He toppled to the ground, screaming in agony.

Death reared his arm, ridding another White Fang of his leg before removing yet another hand from another extremist. The Reaper weaved between the collapsing figures and delivered a clumped fist to the unsuspecting face of another White Fang grunt, shattering the young man's jaw and sending him flying back into a pair of his accomplices, sending them to the floor under the weight of the man's disabled body.

The entire circle was now converging on the Reaper and he was no doubt outmatched. Numbers went a long way, especially when the foe is limited to non-fatal strikes, a law that would eventually be broken when the circumstances were dire enough to do so.

Angel of The Abyss ghosted away, fading from Death's hand before it clamped in a vice-like grip around a young female's face, enticing a blood-curdling scream of agony and pain from the young girl. The Reaper used the girl to block a sword strike from a grunt to his right, the elongated blade bouncing harmlessly off the girl's aura barrier, though shattering the ethereal force with a single strike. He tossed the now-unconscious form into a nearby grunt, toppling multiple, and sent his fist into the gut of the next foe in sight.

The victim sputtered blood on impact and Death threw him into the next sword coming his way, said sword becoming impaled in the faunus' head, no doubt killing her. The rules never stated Death couldn't lead a person to their demise, nor throw them directly at it, so technically this was legal in Death's mindset.

The next to demonstrate hostility to the Reaper was an odd-looking faunus with an oversized pair of antlers attempting some insane battering ram manoeuvre. The blatant attack was caught in the hands of Death and the offender's antlers violently removed from his person, creating a miniature fountain of crimson on the man's head. That didn't seem very non-lethal. Time would tell.

His newly acquired antlers were used as blunt weapons, delivering a sharp succession of repeated blows to the next two oppressors and a stunning blow to several others, each disabled by a final fist to the cranium. The final dazed victim was shoved violently backwards, toppling into one of the larger White Fang members who had just made his presence known, emerging from the darkened treeline.

The larger man swatted the small dazed man away like a mere annoyance and continued on his path to the Reaper. His footsteps shattered the earth below, each resonating with a prominent thud. The man easily stood at over seven feet in height and was built like a goliath, a small pair of bull horns sprouting from his head. His mask showed a distinct difference from the others, his swelling large enough to cover the entirety of his face with more fancy designs than the standard. Death took a moment of near surprise to examine the beast that had just emerged from seemingly nowhere.

A sharp pain struck the Reaper and a small river of red leaked from his unarmoured shoulder as a White Fang grunt drew his blade through Death's shoulder, reminiscing in his success. The man was silenced with a pair of subsequent fists, Death now turning his attention to the few White Fang grunts that remained standing in the clearing. The thunderous footsteps grew ever closer.

A blade was caught in Death's hand and a fist delivered to the wielder's sternum, doubling him over as one of his few remaining comrades advanced from behind the Reaper, hoping for a lucky shot on their foe. Death pivoted left and knocked his attacker unconscious with a forearm aimed to the oppressor's face. Death's boot flattened another advancing attacker as he swivelled right to narrowly avoid a well-aimed spear. Death's hand found the spear and shattered it, knocking the wielder to the ground with a sharp shot to the gut and the rear of his head.

Colossal hands wrapped themselves like vines around the Reaper's shoulders, tugging him back with the strength of a bull and sending him to collide with an unfortunate tree. The bark splintered on impact, yet the tree remained standing and otherwise unscathed. The giant of a man lumbered forward, advancing slowly on Death as he quickly recovered from the dazing impact.

Death shook his mind clear, noticing the large figure bounding towards him. Summoning Famine and Conquest, Death hooked the sickles about the tree's thick body, the blades cutting harshly through the wood with demanding force. Half way through the tree, Death yanked his weapons from the plant's body, sending it toppling quickly forward.

The giant refused to notice the toppling tree and instantly gets caught under it, the force of the object crushing his arm as he squealed in pain. Death's head shifted to see the man caught under the weight of the tree, crying in pain as he ruthlessly attempted to shove the tree off his figure, but to no avail as his strength continued to quickly drain from his body.

The Reaper's eyes grazed over the occurred massacre, a chorus of groans overruled by screams being the only sounds to reach his ears. The air shifted nervously about the Reaper as he walked out to stand in the centre of his accomplishment.

An overwhelming presence filled his head once more as he took in casual breaths of air. He could feel spirits shifting about the forest again, though these were weaker. Much like the White Fang, these spirits began converging on the Reaper as prey.

Without missing a single beat, Death began to harvest the souls of all those dead, not caring for heaven or hell at this dire moment. Energy surged through his form as one constant question swelled up in his head.

'_Why are the White Fang attacking me?'_


	27. Chapter 22 - Demonfire

**Oh my God this is so late. This is so damn late. I can't keep promises.**

**Chapter 22:**

The question was of little bother, the White Fang surely had little affiliation with the end times. He was simply around for the souls. And that was what he got.

A total of five deaths throughout the past incident, consequences yet to be seen, if any. The thought of disregarding the rules of God carried some form of fear with it, be that fear little or large, be that the fear of God or fate. But still the thought failed to provoke the Reaper as he reaped his rightfully claimed souls, revelling in the sudden rush of strength and will.

He cracked his neck and set about finding the pair of eyes that observed from the treeline. The presence had flushed through his mind the second the battle ended. It was one he had… difficulty recognising as a familiar presence. The Reaper truly did not know this presence to be one he had felt before. Something special radiated about this person, though. Something hard to pinpoint for Death.

That special thing was something Death was sure he had known before.

As if it were a casual routine, Death summoned Dead Man's Wail and directed the rifle's barrel to stare down the presence with its longing gaze. The reaper's body remained calm and relaxed as he idly aimed his rifle into darkness.

A shuffle between the leaves and a shift in the darkness quickly revealed a young girl, clearly in her teenage years, with short, emerald-green hair and dark skin. She wore… revealing… clothes… like most other female specimen on Remnant, it seemed. Death simply tilted his head at the sight of this girl.

"Do I know you?" The Reaper questioned flatly, his enquiry seeming more of a statement than revealing its actual tone.

The girl simply smiled and tilted her head in an odd manner. Death's face became dull and his eyes lost whatever emotion they may have been portraying, if any. A handful of long-stretched seconds passed before the Reaper humoured the air with words once more.

"I asked you a question." The Reaper stated in an unpleased tone, yet the girl refused to answer, simply shifting her pose to become more seductive (in a lesser man's eyes). Death's eyes began to wander in the absence of sound, his thoughts trailing off to find something more entertaining to humour themselves with. One such subject his mind seemed to find accommodating was… well, anything that revolved around the subject of Death.

His mind seemed to drift back to one time when he had the gall to write a guide around death… such odd times, when his mind would compel him to do such ludicrous tasks. Another example of aforementioned task was saving those damnable girls in team RWBY, though the roles happened to be reversed and his body had instead leapt into the fray. The Reaper still cursed himself for that unruly action.

The Reaper grew frustrated with the girl's uncooperative silence but quickly became aware of a secondary presence behind him. Death banished Dead Man's Wail and stood erect, to his full height like a rigid statue as he relaxed his body. The girl's unfamiliar presence was almost vexing for the Reaper, but he felt all the more calmer with the demonic presence that grew behind him.

"Honestly… why do you humour me with such sights?" The demon's hands caressed Death's shoulders as it slipped about the Reaper's rigid figure.

"Why are you here?" The Reaper replied to the demon's words slowly, almost hesitantly.

"Hmm… well… I got marginally bored, so… I came to see what you were doing…" The demons slowly knelt, "And I couldn't help but recall your words claiming you couldn't kill…"

"Situations have changed." Death lowly grumbled, "And whilst your presence is partly welcome I still question you as to _why you interrupt me_"

The demon smiled in response, "Let's not get too hasty my angelic friend… I simply see an issue to be dealt with…" The demon's ethereal hand gestured towards the emerald-haired girl, a lick of venom coating its words and fingertips. Silence ensued for what felt like decades.

Death finally spoke again, calmly and almost subconsciously, "Please leave."

The demon's voice twisted and contorted, moulding itself into that fiery brimstone of a voice that had been manifested when the angel and demon first met eyes.

"Your words have grown weak!" The demon hissed at the Reaper, recoiling in what seemed to be a form of mock horror, "Why do you plead with me!?"  
>It roared with an unexpected hate, almost clawing at the Reaper for his unexpected choice of words.<p>

"Am I to trust an angel whom pleads with the likes of me!?" The demon's voice broke and cracked repeatedly, repairing itself only momentarily before crumbling back down. Death's focus remained fixated on the girl ahead of him. She didn't show it on her face, but she had hints of confusion trickling down her. In her eyes, all she saw was a man talking to the air around him.

The demon's spout of hatred was broken by Death's calm response.

"Do you forget the power I have over you?"

The demon was silenced, if only for a short moment.

"I am a vital asset to your… plans… am I wrong?" Its voice settled down to its casual darkened hissing.

"True, though I am yet to see you prove your worth. I allowed you to remain purely based on my own wisdom, not experience."

The demon's eyes flared into existence as its body swelled slightly larger, encompassing even that of Death's as it spoke in a voice made of fire once more, "If a test will keep me in this world, then a test shall be administered!"

With little more warning, the demon's blackened being materialised in a cloud of darkened smoke little more than ten metres from the now petrified emerald-haired girl.

The demon adopted what would be considered an extremely impressive physical appearance, donning the fires of hell as a torso with old, crumbling rocks as substitutes for hands and legs, similar looking stones forming what seemed to be a helmet over the fiery figure's head. If one were to lay eyes on this being, demon would be the first word to come to mind.

And the temperature change was almost alarming, Death being forced to step back just to supress his surprise. Nearby trees caught alight and he could see beads of sweat already forming on the green-haired girl's face, her once smug look now replaced by a look of dreaded fear.

This demon was a great deal more than Death had expected. The spiritual being had pulsated with an unusual energy, but this materialised form… radiated with pure power, the power of an army. A dangerous being to keep around. But it was just a tool to the Reaper which would dispose of when its use expired.

The demon set about proving its worth, a blade of hellfire manifesting in the being's infernal hand. A ferocious leap sent its blade clattering against the girl's own, the youth barely having time to draw a pair of green twin sickles to block the attack, simultaneously eliciting a low grumble of discontent from the Reaper.

Just one question though, who the hell was this girl? A little green-haired girl shows up in the middle of the forest _smiling_ at the Grim Reaper without any context or reason whatsoever. It was a shame that she would meet her death before the Reaper could find out what her purpose was. Perhaps sent to scout out the enemy of her masters? Perhaps it was just her own personal interest. But no, that was impossible; only a select few knew of the Reaper's existence in the mortal realm as of this moment. Could more people know? Death knew of the resourcefulness of some figures in the mortal realm but he doubted anyone would be able to suss out a character from a simple group of fairy tales.

Death shook his head clear and returned his attention to the battle in front of him. Battle was a subjective word at the moment; beating would be a more appropriate word to use. The demon stood over a limp body, huffing angrily. The Reaper was surprised the girl wasn't dead.

"Mercy from a demon? My my." He mocked, "But if you don't mind, we need not burn the forest down." Death lazily threw his hand to the side, gesturing towards the forest of fire that now surrounded them. The demon offered no reply.

"But I shouldn't judge from this…" Death resorted to tossing a rock about, "After all, she's only passed out from heat stroke." The demon growled in reply.

"I suppose your growls should suffice… but I guess I'll keep you around for a while, these abilities shall prove useful to me." Death smirked, "Do you know who she is?"

The demon's voice spit hellfire as it spoke, "She is Emerald Sustrai. Thief."

The Reaper tilted his head, "And how would you know this?"

"This was entertaining to say the least. My eyes have never lain upon a demon in its second form… Quite impressive."

The demon growled, "A shame my second form pales in comparison to your own. I would have killed you if not, rid your angelic taint from my mind."

"You forget I am only mortal in my current state."

"Yet I do not forget you are the Reaper. Killing you whilst you pile your bank with souls would mean little to the Angel of Death. I may be a weaker demon than others, but I am no fool."

Death smiled, "And I am relieved to have an ally in such a strong position."

The demon grumbled, "You have an immortal ally."

"Temporary ally," the Reaper replied, "our temporary alliance means little other than personal, perhaps global gain. To be quite honest, that thing almost scares me. So ancient, more knowledge than even I, and a formidable opponent to a god. Still staying free from the hands of insanity; he impresses me."

"He may be strong, but strength is not permanent, it must be exercised to remain in good condition."

"Ah, you speak truthful words, demon. My belief is that he has been dormant for quite some years."

"But still you shall send him off to find the girl." The demon reverted to its shadowed form, the temperature in the air lowering almost immediately and the heat dissipating, allowing natural airs to flood the vicinity once more.

"I have faith that he will complete the task once administered to him," the Reaper replied, "but she is of a lesser importance. The main focus of Hollow's future outing is to gain the trust of Ruby and her comrades, mainly the Schnee girl."

"The one that bears a German name? She is of the utmost importance in your mind?"

"Perhaps she is; there is no telling for you. You can't invade my mind like you can the humans."

The demon sighed, "Your truthful words irritate me… but the immortal man should have returned by now."

"Yes, he should have… but I am to question why you believe that."

"His power radiated, too tempting to ignore… had to get a taste."

Death smiled, "Yes, he should have returned by now. He should have made his decision." Silence remained.

"I believe he shall return within the remainder of the day. For now, I shall wait." Waiting… something the Reaper did all too often.


	28. Chapter 23 - My Old Friend

**Chapter 23:**

"_Ha, dragons… how trivial." Death smirked, "Fun story, White Knight, but no such atrocities live under my foot. Your mind has deluded you once more; to hell with you, 'hero', you are simply not worth my time." A flick of the wrist and the figure disappeared._

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><p>"Looks like it could snow down there…" The woman looked back to the masked figure behind her, slumped over in a chair and staring tentatively down onto Remnant. He grunted.<p>

"Oh come on," the woman sighed, "Why are you always so damn depressed? We're in heaven for Christ's sake!" The Masked Man offered no recollection of his whereabouts, instead watching the Reaper dwindle down on Remnant.

"I am an assassin," The man finally replied, "I found my amusement in murder… hell would've been more fitting to me."

"Look," the woman started, "Just because Death dragged you up here after you died it doesn't mean you have to be all whiney about it."

"Whiney?" The man questioned in his monotone voice, "I know I don't talk much but just because I subtly complain once it doesn't mean I'm whining…"

"…It kinda does."

The Masked Man sighed, "I suppose your daughter will recognise I was the one to bring about Armageddon whenever she realises the events that are transpiring."

"She's a smart one." The woman smiled proudly.

"Yes… I failed to recognise her potential in my time on Remnant." He drifted off for a moment, "Either way, situations are starting to get interesting. Care to watch with me?"

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><p>"So, am I to believe my parameters are acceptable to you?"<p>

"It irks me to pair myself with an angel," Hollow replied, "but I suppose our interests clash… unfortunately."

"The girl with obvious delusions of grandeur, correct?"

"You already know my interests; there is no need for interrogation."

"A lovely piece of meat, no?" Death's lips moved to form a dirty smile on his masked face. Human attitude really was rubbing off on him.

Hollow growled, tilted his head, and said, "I see you have grown accustomed to human attitudes…"

"Oh, I do apologise so." Death shook his head slowly, "It seems the mortals have had an influence on me… though I am sure no such attitude was displayed in my presence… how odd." The Reaper smiled.

Hollow sighed, "I suppose you're going to ask me to retrieve the faunus girl."

"Oh, how did you know?"

"I assumed you would be scared of running into old friends again."

Death's eyes narrowed, "_I do not know fear. _You know not what you speak of."

Hollow's eyes grew painfully wide behind his mask's dusty lenses, an almost scared look from the Messenger, "Oh…" his voice became soft, contemplating, "I… I hear someone crying. It… my head hurts… why… this is new… I… I…" his head twitched violently, like some sort of miniature spasm had been induced, "Hmm…"

Death tapped his head mockingly, "Missing the immortal mind?" Hollow growled in reply.

"It is undoubtedly Ruby Rose lamenting the loss of her teammate, no doubt punishing herself for it." Death continued, "Now, Will you offer your hand in assistance or will I be forced to pollute my own?"

Hollow hummed for a moment, an odd action for the Immortal, "I'll act on my own terms. Besides, I know secrets that you will never know, so I suppose I have a failsafe to use against the Reaper." He smirked.

Death raised his eyebrow in question, but soon dismissed Hollow's words. He had someone to retrieve the Belladonna girl, and that much was enough for him to forbid himself asking too many questions. Hollow turned to leave, but then quickly swivelled back.

"Do you remember the tales of Jack the Ripper - from Earth?" Death nodded curtly in response, eliciting a short huff from the Messenger before he trod lightly off.

"What of it?" Death called out to him as he left.

"Never mind it." Hollow called back.

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><p>Hollow chuckled dryly to himself as he buried a bullet into an Ursa's skull, the creature toppling lifelessly as a heap of meat before him before slowly dissipating into nothing. His mind had recalled back to past events, perhaps one of the more prominent events that had ever engulfed his mind. From the outside, it had just seemed like a simple serving of justice – kill an assassin, walk away. The true nature of the past event had irked him to the bone for he had been unable to prevent the atrocity that man had unknowingly released upon Remnant.<p>

The assassin had disappeared from Remnant just as quickly as he'd arrived, but of course he had to leave something behind. It just had to be Strange Folk. How unlucky for the living.

Hollow had been so curious to learn more about the man, but the deed had to be done. He was interesting indeed, he had observed his interaction with the four current members of team RWBY far before their time in Beacon and it was intriguing, to say the least.

He effortlessly sidestepped a vertical strike from a Beowolf and dug his fingers ruthlessly into its eyes, the beast squealing in pain whilst his sidearm unloaded another bullet into another Ursa.

He slipped a thin cylinder from his coat – the same he had held as he looked out across the ocean days before – tossing it about in the air for a moment before holding it parallel ahead of him. The ends shot out; one end pointed and sharp to the touch, the other blunt and powerful. It was nothing fancy or flashy, just a compact spear with the word _'Necrosis' _carved into its thin, cylindrical body.

He cracked his neck and continued forth.

* * *

><p>Death stood at the foot of Summer Rose's gravestone.<p>

The day he had reaped her soul, the woman had been reluctant to leave. She had cried on about her daughter in agony, but the pain seemed to pass quicker than Death had expected. She grew calm and accepting surprisingly quickly. She was strong.

Was her daughter strong too?

Maybe.

The Reaper had seen the girl speak to her mother's stone; she couldn't let go too easily. It was understandable, but still stupid in the eyes of the Reaper.

It is said that the most painful goodbyes are the ones that are never said and never explained. Ruby's mother disappeared so suddenly; so tragically. One slip up could ruin a lot.

The thankful thing was that Summer Rose understood the essence of death: It is the birthday of eternity. One day, Ruby could join her mother in the heavens – and her sister and father – and they could live an eternity of youth and happiness, alongside those you love most dearly. Summer's acceptance of the essence of death would make things easier on her whilst she waited.

Only the dead could understand the truth of death.

Most mortals have the sense to honour the dead, to preserve the corpse as a last sign of respect and forgiveness, though at other times greed can outweigh the mind of honour and desperation can lead to shameful actions to ensure one's own progress through life.

Death leaned down, his hand resting on the dirt at the foot of the tombstone. He let it rest for a moment. Summer Rose was another he had placed a watchful eye on during his time.

His hand revealed a wooden doorway embedded in the ground as it brushed away the dried dirt to either side of the tombstone. His fingers found a latch and he gently pulled the old wooden trapdoor open, slipping his body into the small enclosed space. The low fall through the trapdoor was a tight fight for Death's cumbersome mortal frame, but he fit nonetheless.

The ceiling hung low, just a few inches of dirt layered on top of a thin sheet of metal propped up by some ragged supports. The room was small and lit by a single candle in a far corner. The candle was eternal, plucked from the far reaches of heaven and supplied by the Reaper himself. It seemed to have passed through many hands before ending up in this decrepit container of a room. The only furniture in the room was the long wooden table that the candle lay rest on.

Death slipped his gloves off his hands and ran them slowly over an intricate carving in the old wooden table. The carvings began glowing with a dull hue of red, adding to the luminescent light of the eternal candle as it danced across the dried walls of dirt. He pressed his finger into the centre of the circular carvings, the light growing intensely stronger as he applied pressure to the wooden table.

He summoned famine with his free hand and lay it to rest on the table, the blade arcing perfectly around the circular markings carved into the table's wooden surface. Death took a large breath as the steel of Famine's curved blade began glowing with a powerful red. The near-blinding lights coursed through the room for a whole minute before dissipating instantly, filling the room with a temporarily blinding black mist. He sent Famine back to the void as the blackened mist dissipated.

"As promised." Death whispered.

Death summoned a gauntlet from his armour, his right gauntlet, and slid it over to the farther right side of the table where lay another set of intricately carved markings. These carvings lay on a line and looked to be an ancient language of some sorts. He placed the gauntlet below the line of letters and let his fingers trace each line of the carving.

The ancient words became wispy and dark as they snaked across the table in long lines of black liquid to mark themselves on Death's gauntlet. Once Death's finger finished tracing the carvings, the words had carved themselves into the gauntlet's palm and forearm. The words had maintained the liquidly black state that they had become when they slithered from the table to the gauntlet.

The words read 'War'.

Death let a small smile cross his face.

"Glad you could keep a promise, Summer." Death muttered to himself before sliding the gauntlet over his hand. Death lifted the gauntlet to be held before his face.

"Finally…" he breathed, "Welcome, my old friend."

The black liquid burned a fiery red as Death produced the Soul Crystal from the void. He let the red liquid devour the crystal as it reached out with ferocity.

Death could hear the screams of those whom inhabited the crystal. He had made promises to them, promises to be among the mortal world, but they were of no importance anymore.

War was complete; War was hungry. War shall be fed.

The Reaper sent War to join Famine and Conquest in the void as he lifted the trapdoor to expose himself to the outside world. He climbed out of the small hole in the ground and shut the trapdoor.

"Surprised to see your mother's body gone?" He said without turning to face whom he was addressing. She was there, behind him, shaking in rage, hatred, fear, all of it. Ruby Rose was standing behind him, unsure of what to think when she had found an old wooden hatch at the foot of her mother's tombstone. She was lost for words.

In the blink of an eye, Death had Famine and Conquest ringed around her neck, ready to take it off.

"Don't be surprised. It could get you killed." Death let out a dark chuckle.

"I…" She was still lost for words.

Death banished Famine and Conquest, standing to his full height in front of the girl.

"It is fine," he said, "your mother's body is fine, just not buried here, never buried here." Death walked to leave – Ruby still remained stunned in a confusing mixture of anger and surprise amongst many other things – finishing, "I'll show you one day."

Further into the forest, Death summoned his armour, accompanied with the newly-modified gauntlet – War, as he prepared to embrace the slaughter of the Grimm pack about him.

* * *

><p><strong>Ermahgerd, I hinted at a prequel! Blasphemy!11!1!<strong>


	29. Chapter 24 - War

**Chapter 24:**

"Ah, War… You always were the worst of us…" Death chuckled as he held War raised above his head, fingers piercing the sky as the pack of Beowolves fell victim to the stinging liquid-red tendrils of War, catapulting themselves like javelins into the non-existent hearts of the Grimm creatures. The liquidised letters slowly slithered back to their rooted position as the final Beowolf fell lifeless.

It had been centuries since he had felt such power in his hands.

Death began harvesting the creatures' incomplete souls.

Unfortunately, the Reaper's excessive use of War to remove the Grimm had resulted in him draining more of his strength than he was able to gain from the Grimm souls, but this downside posed little annoyance to Death; he was simply relieved to be reunited with an old friend, even if it was only a husk – a withered shell of the real thing.

Much like Famine and Conquest, War was a simple manifestation one of the four horsemen's beings. Death was the only horseman still riding a horse.

The destruction of his companions came across as most unsatisfactory for the fourth horseman.

And at the roots of their extinction – none other than the damnable Strange Folk.

The Reaper had tried to honour his companions, his friends, by infusing their souls into ethereal blades. A mere decade they had lasted in the hands of the fourth horseman, slaughtering all foes and taking revenge upon those that had done wrong by them. But there would always be a twist.

Too quickly, the blades were destroyed, and Death banished back to the ethereal realms. It was no way to honour your fallen brethren.

Famine was closed to restored, yet still far from true form. Famine's soul had allowed his soul-infused blade to starve the land of plant life.

Conquest's blade once allowed the bringing of plague.

War's blade had allowed the massacre of everything in sight.

Though it all came at the price of power. Specifically, the wielders own power – the wielder's force of existence – their life-force.

The Reaper grumbled. Upgrading his weapons would mean a larger consumption of his power, meaning a great deal less stamina. Less spiritual power meant less physical strength, meaning a certain return to the ethereal realms.

Of course, starting a full-blown genocide to enhance his strength wasn't completely out of the question, but God would certainly disagree – If he could've done that he wouldn't even need to be among the mortals.

Influencing genocide, however; that was something possible.

The sheer thought of a genocide was disgusting; humans systematically eliminating a certain racial or ethical group, mostly out of the stupidest and most idiotic reasons. But it was all just fuel to the fire – the Grim Reaper's fire – and it wasn't his place to care about anything else.

War was the worst horseman behind the Reaper himself.

He was overwhelmed by greed and violence – his eyes a black void, no remnant of anything showing through his sight.

Despised by the other horsemen for his ridiculously idealistic views; his beliefs of becoming perfect and breaking from God's cycle. Immortality was the goal – the ideal – he had strived for oh-so valiantly.

Perhaps foolish at times, War was reckless in his path to immortality. Earth's apocalypse was his playground, his fields of green for him to frolic in like a playful child – a child with a knife. The only time his soul was detached from God, he saw his chance to break free from his ethereal chains and find his idealistic destiny.

He was a fool for seeking the assistance he did. A horseman does not sell his soul to an underground cult – no – that was the epitome of foolishness.

Maybe his mind had been corrupted? Perhaps he had been driven insane by… something. There was no telling what drove him to take such risks.

All there was to know was that he had made a foolish move, and now…

Finally, War's soul had been played straight into the hands of Death. Incomplete, yes, but it was still a fragment of the horseman's soul, weak or not. That was power.

* * *

><p>Ruby Rose was gone. No surprise.<p>

Ruby Rose was of no current concern to the reaper, though. There were more important things on mind.

* * *

><p>"Paladin Harland, I trust you have some enlightening news for me." Silas hummed, his face and feelings dull behind his armoured chassis. Bastian Harland bowed.<p>

"Brother Silas," he began, his voice soft and irritated, "The allies I was able to formulate in Vale have defected against me." He touched his hand to his helmet, wiping the blood from his armour.

"I was forced to vacate. I have failed us."

Silas sighed, "Not at all, my Brother." He placed a hand to his comrade's head. "Are they a threat to us?"

Bastian raised his head, staring Silas deep into his artificial eyes, "Undoubtedly."

"Then we shall send Praetor Acacius to tie up loose ends. It seems our time of hiding is over."

Bastian turned to leave.

"Oh," Silas continued, "Please unbind the prisoner and bring her to me."

Bastian nodded.

Silas sat idle in his stone throne, dust settling on his armour, such a deadly stillness overtaking his body. His boot tapped against the floor rhythmically on occasion, sending a resonating echo through the bowels of the temple's sub-levels.

Minutes passed by and Silas still remained in a statue-like state of immobility, completely still as he stared further ahead into the chamber, illuminated by flickering flames.

The aging stone wall at the end of the chamber slid into the floor, revealing Bastian with the restrained prisoner at his feet, on her knees.

"Move." Silas heard the echo faintly as Bastian shoved her forward rather violently with the underside of his boot. The girl rolled along the floor a few feet, struggling to stand to her feet before Bastian hoisted her up by the waist and carried her forward. Silas watched as Bastian marched toward him. The stone wall slid closed.

Bastian dropped the girl at his feet as Silas shifted to stand, towering over the girl. Bastian slipped off to the side as Silas stared at the girl.

Her hands were bound by handcuffs and she was beaten and bloody; thinned breaths escaping through swollen lips, amber eyes shaking unnaturally. Slumped over on the floor, she looked dead already.

"Blake Belladonna." Silas stated, his voice echoing strongly through the room

"I'm sure this situation is similar to you… I recall that you have been under the influence of our Nightmare Essence before, if you remember the docks, but never indirectly like you are now." he paced around her, glaring at her crumpled body.

"I'm surprised you haven't tried to escape from those conventional handcuffs…" his voice remained monotone, "You haven't even seen half the temple yet… I'm sure you thought you could escape, no?"

Blake remained silent, barely quivering through pain.

"It's a shame your aura doesn't work in these sub-levels, those wounds would hurt a lot less if it did." Silas sat cross legged in front of her

"To rub it in, I even decided to commandeer those handcuffs specially." He poked at her cuffed hands, "You know who was in those cuffs before you?" he tilted his head

Blake's shaking eyes grew wide, considering the unlikely possibilities.

"Correct. Poor old Adam… he was resilient, like you." Silas stood, "You see, he began to catch onto us… so we did what we have always done." He smirked behind his helmet, straightening his posture.

"It's a shame I can't kill you though…" he continued, "Acacius would grow angry for destroying a future asset." Silas seated himself in his stone chair once more

"Since I can't kill you, that would mean more fun for me, so know that I bestow upon you the following information for my own amusement. I will tell you my semblance." A small hole appeared in his helmet, revealing Silas' right eye, a riddle of bloodied veins and an odd symbol in place of his pupil, "My semblance is called the Eye of Posterus. My eye sees the future, Blake. I hope you'll humour me in our future bouts with this information. Take her, Bastian." He gestured to Bastian and the man lifted Blake by her waist once more, carrying her out of the room.

Silas smiled. He still longed for a challenger in battle. Maybe he would get one soon.

* * *

><p>"Wake up." Hollow slapped the unconscious girl and she began to stir. Her eyes eventually fluttered open and Blake recoiled slightly, only to discover the intense pain coursing through her body was halting her from making any sudden movements. Hollow gave her a moment to regain her senses, looking around at the moonlit treeline.<p>

"…W-what happened?" she managed to mumble out.

"What did they take?" Hollow immediately replied, "Was it a kidney? Or did they replace your heart?"

Blake tried to sit up but found her body unwilling. She could barely even move her arms.

"Who are you?" she wheezed

"Unimportant." Hollow replied, '_Looks like they took nothing from her.'_

"You've been exposed…" Hollow realised, seeing faint blue glows emanating from her veins, "It will be a painful journey back." He quickly replaced his mask's filter and pulled her into a cradle lift.

"Keep quiet," He said, "There are Grimm near."

Hollow stayed low, sticking to the shadows. Despite being immortal and older than almost anything else on remnant, Hollow still possessed emotions, be they subtle. Emotions meant Grimm. Blake was probably radiating a lot of negative emotions right now. That meant a lot more Grimm.

"You're heavy." He deadpanned. She groaned. Unfortunately for Blake, the Nightmare Essence she had been exposed to made it so that unconsciousness wouldn't be arriving any time soon. Nerve endings all over her body were firing off all over her body, a most unpleasant feeling to have, like being burned alive yet unable to scream your pains. Intense painkillers would only serve to numb the pain slightly, but it was the best Blake was going to get right now.

Hollow slid to a halt, dirt gathering beneath his boots as he began to lower Blake to the ground. He produced a small syringe and jabbed it into her arm, releasing the fluid into her bloodstream.

"It's a general anaesthetic. It will null the pain for the next thirty minutes so you won't feel like you're on fire." He said, "I can't render you unconscious though, that's impossible for now." She probably couldn't register anything he was saying.

His head shifted from left to right, his eyes staring through the darkness of the forest as he searched for potential threats. Satisfied with his negative results, Hollow lifted the girl into a cradle once more and they were off through the undergrowth.

* * *

><p>After nearly fifteen minutes of undisturbed movement, Blake began to gradually regain her sense of mind, her blurry vision slowly clearing and her mind fully registering her surroundings. The pain was subtle, but still existent as she gazed around for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.<p>

She was moving. Fast. She could hardly feel her legs, numbed to all hell. She was being carried.

A grunt resonated from somewhere near her and she felt herself falling, eventually colliding with a muddy patch of dirt and tumbling further through the mess. Her body flipped a couple times, yet no feeling came to her, the only sensation in her body being the subtle pain in the background of her mind and the numb unresponsiveness of her limbs.

She heard something else squelch in the muddy ground and a figure fell into her eyesight, large and well-built drenched in a long black coat with a head of messed silver hair. The male figure turned its head to face her, revealing not a face but a broken and tattered mask of sorts with an open hole where an eyepiece would presumably fit; though the other side completely contrasted this, looking nearly brand new. Blake's cat-like eyes caught a small detail clinging to the side of his face, a melted contortion of rubber and skin faded together beneath his strings of silver hair.

He turned his head away again, simultaneously producing a small cylindrical object from the long of his coat as he quickly scrambled to his feet in the thick muddy environment. He rolled left, out of Blake's eyesight, the girl finding herself unable to shift her eyes to follow the man as her vision began to slowly fade to Black. With no recollection of earlier events, her vision faded to nothing, though her ears remained active and that background pain remained ever-present through her body, accompanying the numbness in her limbs.

She heard the clash of metal and the man's disgruntled groans and all she could do was listen.


	30. UPDATE

**So we've gone quite a while without an update. Basically, I've hit a wall (the infamous writer's block returns) and I'm working to get the next chapter out ASAP without it being crap.**


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